


Help From The Enemy

by Mystique6



Series: Fallon Romano Series [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friendship, Ghost Hunters, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape/Non-con Elements, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:21:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 62,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27145156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystique6/pseuds/Mystique6
Summary: Fallon Romano has been traveling around the United States as a ghost for a year with no memory of her human life.  When she sees the boys in a random cafe she is surprised that they can interact with her.  Hoping they can help her remember who she is and become human again she joins them on their hunt, but when they find out what she is tensions arise between her and Dean.  The tension continues throughout their new partnership, but as the three become a close knit team will feelings change between them?
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Fallon Romano Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981435
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Becoming a Team

**Author's Note:**

> Hi readers! I hope you enjoy this Supernatural fanfic. If this story looks familiar to you it may be because you've seen it over on Fanfiction.net. I am adding the story over here now also. I use the same pen name for both sites. I am following the show Supernatural up to season 10 and each season gets it's own story. I have already completed season one so I will be posting once a week. I am aiming to post every Friday, but I am jumping the gun with this first chapter. I hope you enjoy the fic. If you have time please leave a review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. The script and characters belong to the creators and producers of the T.V. show.

Fallon was sitting at the bar of a diner people watching, although there were only two people of interest there. The two men next to her were eating together and god were they hot. She was having a hard time picking between the two. The taller one had somewhat of a puppy dog face, but he was well built and intelligent looking. The other had the prettiest face of anyone she'd ever known. He was more obviously muscular than his companion and apparently had a bigger appetite. She was currently watching him circle some girl's picture in the obits. Reading over the man's shoulder she read skimmed the article about some poor girl dying in a drowning accident. She thought the two boys must be in for her funeral.

A waitress walked over to the two boys then and asked, "Can I get you anything else?"

The pretty boy reading the newspaper smiled flirtatiously up at her but his companion answered, "Just the check please." The waitress nodded and walked.

"You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while," he said pointedly looking over at the waitress. "That's fun."

Fallon snorted. "Figures you're that type of guy," she scoffed.

To her shock the man actually looked over at her. "And what type of guy would that be?" he asked teasingly.

She whipped her head around to look at him so fast her copper brown hair fell in her face. "You can see me?" she asked incredulously and then blushed when the man looked at her as if she were crazy. She quickly tried to back pedal. "It's just that most people don't notice me."

He smiled at her again. "I find that hard to believe," he replied and started to lean closer when his companion made a coughing noise to get his attention. The man scowled but turned back around and began to talk to his friend. Fallon couldn't help but listen in. "Here, take a look at this, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlson, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had the funeral two days ago."

Fallon perked up at this news. So these boys weren't in for the funeral. But what were they looking at the obits for then? She listened more closely to their conversation then. "Something you want to say to me," the boy who'd talked to her asked.

"The trail for dad," Sam replied. "It's getting colder every day."

"Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?" the other asked.

"I don't know. Something. Anything," Sam pushed. Fallon felt sympathetic. Their father was missing, that could explain why they were looking in the obituary but it didn't explain why they were fixated on this drowning victim. Focusing back on the two brothers she realized they were arguing.

"I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies," the brother with the huskier voice accused. "We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" This startled Fallon. The two brothers didn't look dangerous, but they were talking about killing things. She also couldn't shake that they weren't talking about human beings either.

They had just gotten up from the bar when she blurted out, "What do you mean everything bad?"

The two boys froze before turning back around to stare at her. The one named Sam smiled what was supposed to be a reassuring smile at her and replied, "Nothing. We just meant…"

But Fallon interrupted him. "You don't mean nothing," she said looking back and forth between the two of them. They knew something about the supernatural; she was sure of it. She felt a surge of hope that maybe they could help her. "Are you two vampire hunters or something?"

Sam opened his mouth to answer but his brother beat him to it. "Or something," he responded. "We hunt vampires but we also hunt other monsters, like werewolves, ghosts, or demons."

"Dean!" Sam hissed.

"What?" Dean asked. "She guessed. Besides she doesn't look too freaked out about it."

"I'm not!" she cried stepping forward. "I've always been interested in the supernatural. Does this drowning accident have something to do with the supernatural?"

Once again, the two brothers looked at each other, unsure whether to answer the question. Finally, the taller brother, Sam answered. "We're not sure," he said, "but the disappearance of the bodies is suspicious."

"But it could always just be a serial killer," pretty boy Dean said. "Either way we're heading out that way to check it out."

"I'll come with you!" she pushed. "I'll help."

"It could be dangerous," Sam tried to dissuade her.

"I'll take my chances," she replied firmly.

"Alright," Dean conceded smiling at her interestedly.

"I don't think this is the best idea," Sam argued.

"We told her the risk," Dean said. "She's old enough to make her own decisions."

Sam looked back at her. "Do you want to call someone and tell them where you're going?" he asked.

Fallon shook her head. "No one to call," she replied. "I don't live at home anymore."

"It's settled then," Dean said. "Welcome to the team."

The trio walked out of the diner together and up to an Impala parked across the road. "Is this your car?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep," Dean replied. "Sweet ride right."

"The sweetest," she exclaimed.

"You can have shot gun," Dean said.

"What?" Sam exclaimed.

"Aw c'mon, Sammy," Dean encouraged. "It's her first time in the car."

Sam opened his mouth to argue but Fallon cut in. "I'm okay in the back," she said. "Honestly, I don't even think Sam could fit in the back seat. He'd be packed like a sardine back here." Both Dean and Fallon glanced over at Sam and appraised his ridiculous height.

"Funny," Sam replied sarcastically but he was smiling as he climbed into the passenger seat. Fallon slid in the back and sighed contentedly at her luck. She was thrilled she decided to stop inside that diner.

"Let's hit the road," Dean said and the three headed to Wisconsin. After a long time in the car they finally pulled up to an old, weathered lake house. Dean cut the engine and turned around to look at Fallon. "You're not a stickler for the law right?"

"Why? Are we about to do something illegal?" she asked with an amused look on her face.

Dean made a face. "Part of our job requires that we pretend to belong to some agency to get information out of our witnesses," he explained. "I just don't want to make you uncomfortable. I probably should have warned you before."

"I'm not uncomfortable," she assured him. "You do what you need to do."

"Okay," he replied smiling at her. "We don't have any fake IDs for you so you'll have to stay in the car."

Fallon made a face. "My legs are really stiff," she told him. "Can I at least get out of the car and walk around."

Dean smirked at her not at all fooled by her excuse. "The witness may not appreciate his conversation being over heard," he argued.

"He can't do anything about it if I do over hear," she pointed out. "As far as he knows I'm just a civilian. Besides, he won't even notice me. I think he's probably going to have other things on his mind." She looked out at the lake as she said it.

Dean nodded. "Alright," he sighed, "but if he's uncomfortable with your presence you have to get back in the car."

"Deal," Fallon said immediately and slipped out past him walking over to a spot where she would be able to listen to their conversation.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked. "We don't have a fake ID for her."

"She's not going to be doing the questioning," Dean told Sam. "Besides, worse comes to worse we could always tell the guy she's a reporter." Sam didn't look happy but didn't argue as the two stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door. A few seconds later Fallon could see a man open it. "Will Carlton?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, that's right," the man confirmed.

"I'm Agent Ford," Dean said as he and his brother flashed fake badges at the witness. "This is Agent Hamill. We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service."

"I guess you're here to ask about my sister?" Will asked.

"Just a few questions," Sam assured him.

"Okay," Will said walking out of the house and down the steps. Dean and Sam both turned and beckoned for her to hide, but Will Carlton walked by her without seeming to care if she was there. Fallon shrugged and walked a short distance behind the man as Dean and Sam hurried to catch up. When they got closer to the lake they could all see an elderly man sitting on the dock.

"How far out was she in the lake?" Dean asked.

"She was about a hundred yards out," Will informed him. "That's where she got dragged down."

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked a little insensitively. Fallon had to restrain herself from snorting.

"Yeah," Will replied. "She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

"So no splashing?" Sam asked. "No signs of distress?"

"No, that's what I'm telling you," Will insisted.

"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Sam pressed. "Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?"

"No," Will shook his head. "Again, she was really far out there."

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean questioned.

"No, never," Will replied. "Why? Why, what do you think's out there?"

"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean hedged the question and started to head back to the car.

"What about your father?" Sam asked and Dean turned back. "Can we talk to him?"

Will sighed and looked over at his father before turning his attention back to Sam. "Look, if you don't mind, I mean…" he started. "He didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."

"We understand," Sam said and turned to join Dean and Fallon heading back to the car.

"See," Fallon said. "I told you he wouldn't pay attention to me being there. He's got too much on his mind."

"Yeah, you were right," Dean agreed. "What's our next move Sammy?"

"I say we talk to the sheriff," Sam replied and then looked back at Fallon. "There's no way he won't question why you're with us."

"I'll stay in the car," she agreed. "Or at least out of the police station."

"We'll tell you what we find out," Sam assured her. A few minutes later and they'd reached the police station. "We'll be out as soon as we can."

"Take your time," Fallon replied. "I'm just going to be chilling over here." She walked over to a bench outside the station while the two boys headed inside. This was the best she'd felt in a long time. It seemed like forever she'd been stuck on this earth without any purpose and now these two boys were giving her a sense of direction. The boys thought this was her first dip in the supernatural but she'd known about this world for over a year now. She was growing desperate, but she truly believed that these two could help her. She just had to wait for the right moment to ask. About thirty minutes later the two boys came out following a woman.

"The motel is just this way," the woman said.

"Oh hold on we just have to…" Sam started, but Fallon quickly rushed in.

"I'm coming," she called and rushed over to them.

"Did you need something?" the woman asked.

"Uh…no," Sam replied quickly giving Fallon a contemplative look. Fallon smiled weakly at him as they began to follow the woman again.

"So, cute kid," Dean said.

"Thanks," the woman answered not missing a beat.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean asked. Fallon couldn't stop herself from snorting this time. Clearly, Dean would do anything to pick up a girl. The woman did not respond and didn't speak again until they reached their destination.

"There it is," the woman announced. "Like I said, two blocks."

"Thanks," Sam said.

The woman turned towards Dean and said, "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line. Enjoy your stay!"

Sam raised his eyebrows at Dean. "Kids are the best?" he asked laughing. "You don't even like kids."

"I love kids," Dean exclaimed.

"Name three children you even know," Sam shot back at him.

Dean paused trying to come up with an answer. Sam rolled his and walked into the motel. "I'm thinking!" Dean called after him.

"You make it look hard," Fallon replied teasingly and followed after Sam leaving Dean staring at her with a gaping mouth. He quickly caught up to her though and pushed her gently. She laughed as he continued to walk up to the motel desk.

"We need a room with two beds and," Sam was saying but Fallon broke in again.

"I'll get my own room," she blurted out. "Don't worry about it, I can cover it."

Sam blinked in surprise but turned back to the desk lady who was looking at him expectantly. "Yeah, just that one room," he said. A few minutes later and Sam and Dean were ready to head to their room.

"I'll knock on your door when I get settled," she told them and stepped up to the desk and started talking before they could agree. She sighed in relief when they got on the elevator without looking back. When the doors had shut she walked away from the front desk and began to wander around. When fifteen minutes had passed she made her way up to her companions' room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, there you are," Dean said. "You have your room all settled?"

"Yeah," she answered walking deeper into the room. "I'm actually a floor below you…"

"When were you going to tell us?" Sam interrupted her.

Fallon stared at him torn between panic and confusion. "Tell you what?" she asked trying to sound puzzled.

"That you're a ghost," he answered her bluntly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied weakly.

"Sure you do," Sam disagreed. "That's why you said no one ever notices you at the diner. That's why Will Carlton didn't so much as spare you a glance at the lake today, and why you didn't want to be introduced to Andrea or have us get a room for you. You have no use for a hotel room do you?"

"No," Fallon replied looking away from him. "No, I have no use for a hotel room."

"You're a fucking ghost?" Dean cried angrily stepping in front of her. "Why can we feel you?"

"I don't know," Fallon said feeling her eyes swim. "You're the first people who have been able to see me in a year. I didn't mean to lie but…"

"Didn't mean to lie?" Dean yelled. "You sure as hell meant to lie. You knew we'd never let you come if we knew what you really were!"

"I'm sorry," Fallon whispered her tears spilling down her face now. "If you'll just let me explain…"

"Explain what?!" Dean shouted. "I'd just love to hear what else you could possibly have to say."

"Dean," Sam said firmly laying a hand on his shoulder and pulling him away from Fallon. Dean shoved him off but quit screaming before turning his back on her. Sam looked at her, and although his eyes had been accusatory before they were gentle now. "How did you die?"

Fallon shook her head and brushed her tears away. "I don't know," she told him. "I don't remember a thing about my life. The only reason I know I'm a ghost is because no one ever sees me or hears me when I talk to them." She paused before adding. "The fact that a car drove right through me kind of made it obvious too."

Sam smiled and choked back a laugh. "Sorry," he replied. "That's really not funny."

"It's okay," she said.

"Why didn't you tell us when we met?" Sam asked her. "You guessed that we knew about the supernatural."

Fallon smiled ruefully at him. "How could I tell you what I was after hearing Dean talk about killing everything bad, like ghosts," she replied. "I was just so happy to be noticed for once. I didn't want to lose that by telling you what I really was. You never would have let me come."

"No we sure as hell wouldn't have," Dean said acidly.

"Dean," Sam shouted. "Cool it. She hasn't caused any harm."

"She's a ghost, Sam," Dean shot back. "All ghosts are evil or they become evil eventually. She needs to go."

"No please!" Fallon cried rushing to stand in front of Dean. "I can help you with this case."

"We'll be fine without your help," Dean said briskly and tried to step away from her but she reached out and got hold of his arm.

"Please," she said again. "I don't want to go back to being unnoticed by the rest of the world. I can't. Please let me stay and help you."

Dean finally looked directly at her. His green eyes searched her eyes and she let him look for any untruths to be found there. He sighed and said, "Fine, but after this case you leave."

"Thank you," she said. He nodded and walked over to a bed and began to unpack his suitcase. Sam sat at the table with his laptop. The room was silent for a few moments and Fallon finally walked over and sat across from Sam. She relaxed when he didn't object her presence.

"So there's the three drowning victims this year," Sam said finally.

"Any before that?" Dean asked all the anger out of his voice now as they got back to business.

"Um, yeah," Sam replied. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up the pace."

"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean inquired.

"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me," Sam said.

"Stay out of the water," Fallon replied. "You should be fine." Sam shot her a look but smiled.

"Why?" Dean asked ignoring Fallon's comment.

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing," Sam answered. "Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."

Dean walked over to read whatever article Sam has up on his computer. "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr," he puzzled. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," Sam said looking more closely at the page. "Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued."

"That's horrible," Fallon said softly. "That poor kid."

Sam nodded his head in agreement but said, "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," Dean said. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." Fallon looked over at Dean after he said that. Something in his face made her think that he'd shared the experience. Before she could ask though the three of them got back on the road to go find Andrea and her son.

They finally found Andrea sitting on a bench at the park. "Can we join you?" Sam asked politely stepping into the woman's view.

"I'm here with my son," Andrea said but didn't say no.

"Oh," Dean replied. "Mind if I say hi?" He walked over to where Lucas was coloring without waiting for an answer.

"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me," Andrea said.

"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam said softly.

"No, I don't think so either," Fallon murmured watching Dean talk to the kid. Sam smiled at her and nodded confirming what she suspected about his brother. She wanted to ask what happened, but figured it was too personal to ask right now.

A few minutes later and Dean walked back towards them. "Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me," she said. "Not since his dad's accident."

"Yeah, we heard," Dean replied. "Sorry."

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," Andrea told them.

"That's what it looks like to me," Fallon said looking over at Lucas.

"That can't be easy," Sam said comfortingly. "For either of you."

Andrea nodded her head. "We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot," she explained. "It's just… when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…"

"Kids are strong," Dean said. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."

"Yeah, kids are more resilient than most adults," Fallon agreed and then smiled shyly at Dean when he glanced over at her. She smiled more brightly when he gave her a small smile back.

"You know, he used to have such life," Andrea sighed watching her son come towards the group. "He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish…hey sweetie."

Lucas handed a picture to Dean. "Thanks," Dean said. "Thanks, Lucas."

Fallon and Dean were back in the motel room later that day. Sam had gone out to do some research and left the two alone together. Neither had said a word since he'd left them alone. Dean was polishing one of his guns and Fallon was staring blankly out the window. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "How old were you when you saw her die?" she asked, but he didn't say anything. She pressed further. "I know it's your mom. I overheard you at the diner, I know your dad's missing at the moment."

"You seem to overhear a lot of things," he said coolly not bothering to put down his gun.

Fallon looked over at him. "Yeah, well when no one can see you there aren't a lot of other things you can do," she told him. He didn't reply. She sighed and walked over to sit next to him on the bed. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how horrible that must have been for you."

Dean looked over at her then and stopped fiddling with his gun. "I was four," he said. "I ran into Sam's nursery when I heard my father screaming. She was pinned to the ceiling, slashed open and on fire. It's the most horrifying thing I've ever seen."

Fallon felt her eyes tear up again. She moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't pull away. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

He shrugged but gripped onto her hand with his own. "It was a long time ago," he said.

"It still makes you sad," she replied softly. "And angry. Her death was caused by the supernatural wasn't it? That's why you hunt monsters."

"Yes," he answered. "That's exactly why I hunt down monsters. So no other innocent person has to lose their life to evil."

Fallon nodded. "I don't blame you for hating me," she said getting up from the bed to walk away from him but he did not release her hand from his grip.

"I don't hate you," he said pulling her gently back down on the bed next to him. "I was out of line earlier. You didn't deserve that. I imagine it must be hard to not remember who you are and not being able to communicate with people. If our situations were reversed I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing."

"Well, I'm glad our situations aren't reversed," she said. "It's no fun being dead."

"Yeah I imagine not," Dean laughed softly and let go of her hand. He looked like he was about to say something else when the door opened and Sam came into the room.

"So I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," he announced.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I just drove past the Carlton house," Sam explained. "There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."

"What?" Fallon asked shocked.

"He drowned?" Dean inquired.

"Yep," Sam confirmed. "In the sink."

"So whatever this is isn't confined to the lake," Fallon said.

"What the hell?" Dean exclaimed. "So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Dean shrugged. "Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water…water that comes from the same source."

"The lake," Sam said.

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

"Which would explain why it's upping the body count," Sam realized. "The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere," Dean said seriously and got up off the bed. "This is gonna happen again soon."

Fallon was thoughtful for a few moments. "Could it be a ghost?" she asked. "You keep telling me that ghosts can be vengeful. Whatever this is definitely has a vendetta."

"It's possible," Sam said. "And we do know one thing for sure. We know this HAS got something to do with Bill Carlton."

"Yeah, it took both his kids," Dean agreed.

"And I've been asking around," Sam added. "Lucas's dad. Chris…Bill Carlton's godson."

"So this thing is targeting his family," Fallon said slowly standing up.

"Let's g pay Mr. Carlton a visit," Dean replied.

The three of them rushed to the lake house and found Bill Carlton sitting on the dock. "Mr. Carlton?" Sam called. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

"We're from the Department…" Dean started.

"I don't care who you're with," Mr. Carlton replied flatly. "I've answered enough questions today."

"Your son said he saw something in that lake," Sam said. "What about you? You ever see anything out there? Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death…we think there might be a connection to you or your family."

"My children are gone," Mr. Carlton replied. "It's…it's worse that dying. Go away. Please."

"C'mon," Fallon said softly. "He can't tell us anything." Dean and Sam nodded and the three of them headed back up to the Impala.

"What do you think?" Sam asked.

"Aw," Dean sighed. "I think the poor guy's been through hell. I also think he's not telling us something."

"So now what?" Sam asked. Dean was about to reply when his shoulders grew stiff and he seemed to be staring at something in the distance. Sam looked at him concerned. "What is it?"

"Huh," Dean huffed looking at the Carlton house. "Maybe Bill's not the only ne who knows something." He pulled out the picture Lucas had drawn for him and showed Sam and Fallon.

"He drew a picture of Carlton's house?" Fallon said confused. "Why? What could he possibly know?"

"I guess we'll have to find out," Dean replied and slid into the car. "I say we pay Andrea a visit.

A few minutes later and they were in the upstairs of Andrea's home. "I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," she said following them towards her son's room.

"I just need to talk to him," Dean pushed. "Just for a few minutes."

"He won't say anything," she argued. "What good's it going to do?"

"Andrea," Sam said, "we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there."

"My husband, the others, they just drowned," Andrea exclaimed. "That's all,"

"If that's what you really believe, then we'll go," Dean said, "But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son."

Andrea still looked unsure but finally nodded her head. "Okay," she replied. "But only for a few minutes."

"Thank you," Dean said and walked into the room to speak to Lucas. "Hey, Lucas. Remember me?" Lucas didn't even look up. "You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." Dean watched patiently as Lucas continued to draw. Dean brought out the picture Lucas had made him earlier. "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me."

Once again there was no response from the Lucas. "You're scared," Dean said. "It's okay. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom…I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too." Lucas looked up at Dean and pushed him another drawing. "Thanks, Lucas."

"God, you guys spend a lot of time in the car," Fallon sighed as she slipped back into the back seat.

Sam laughed. "You get used to it," he said. "Besides it's not like you can get cramped."

"No," she admitted. "But it's a frustrating way to travel when you can just pop up anywhere you want."

Sam chuckled again. "Think you could pop up in this house?" he asked.

"I could but what would be the point," she answered. "You two are the only people who can communicate with me and I'd have no way of getting you the directions."

"Guess we'll just have to find it the old fashioned way then," Dean said and then sat thoughtfully for a second. "Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died."

"There are some cases… going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies," Sam replied.

"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" Dean questioned. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."

"Alright," Sam sighed. "We got another house to find."

"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone," Dean pointed out.

"It'll be like looking for a needle in a hay stack," Fallon agreed looking distastefully out the window. "I hate the suburbs."

Sam was silent for a moment as he studied the drawing Lucas had given them and then smiled. "See this church?" he pointed out. "I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."

"Oh, College Boy, thinks he's so smart," Dean grumbled.

"Annoying isn't it?" Fallon muttered. "He's right though. That church is probably a land mark for this area. This isn't a city so this could be the only church in this community."

"God, I'm surrounded by nerds," Dean said and Sam and Fallon laughed.

It was silent for a few moments before Sam finally said, "You know, um… what you said about Mom… you never told me that before."

"Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" Dean groaned.

"Well, that's one way to kill a moment," Fallon sighed, but Dean ignored her. Sam started to reply but then the car stopped. She looked out the window and saw that they'd reached the church. "I guess we're here."

"Looks like it," Dean said getting out of the car. Sam and Fallon followed behind and watched as Dean compared the picture to the surroundings. "That house over there," he said pointing to a yellow house nearby.

"Let's go," Sam said and they walked up to the house and knocked on the door. An elderly woman answered it. "Hello," she said. "Can I help you?"

"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am," Dean said, "but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle."

"No sir," the woman responded. "Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now. The police never…never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared." Mrs. Sweeney had walked over to a picture of Peter on the mantel piece. Sam pointed out to both Fallon and Dean the toy soldiers placed on a table nearby. They looked like the ones Lucas was playing with. Mrs. Sweeney turned back towards them. "Losing him… you know, it's, it's worse than dying."

Fallon picked her head up at that. That was exactly what Mr. Carlton had said to them at the lake. Dean seemed to be thinking the same thing she was and asked, "Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?"

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up," Mrs. Sweeney replied.

Dean walked over to the picture hanging on a mirror and read the back of one. "Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, nineteen seventy," he read.

"They were in the same class," Fallon said excitedly. "There's a connection between them."

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Sweeney," Sam said. Mrs. Sweeney just nodded as she led them out.

The three of them got back in the Impala and began to drive. "Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow," Sam said.

"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean muttered.

"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished," agreed Sam.

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" Dean suggested.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions," Fallon argued. "Bill was the same age as Peter. He couldn't have done anything to him."

"But what if he did?" Sam pushed. "What if Bill killed him?"

"Peter's spirit would be furious," Dean said. "It'd want revenge. It's possible."

"Improbable if you ask me," Fallon sighed. "Bill was just a kid. Maybe he just knows who did."

"That's possible too," Sam said. "But that's not going to make any difference to Peter's spirit."

"We keep telling you," Dean exclaimed. "Ghosts don't think like humans do. They're vengeful and angry. You may not be dangerous yet, but you will be. You don't think like you did when you were human do you? You don't see the grey areas?"

"I don't know," argued Fallon. "I told you I can't remember my human life… just little pieces here and there. And I don't see the world in black and white."

"That's because you're a newer ghost," Sam explained. "I know you don't want to hear this, Fallon, but Dean's right. One day you won't be any different than Peter Sweeney."

"I won't kill people," Fallon said firmly.

"I hope you're right," Sam said as the Impala came to a stop. They all hopped out of the car and approached the house. "Mr. Carlton?" Sam called and then they all froze as they heard a boat engine. They all rushed towards the lake.

"Hey, check it out," Dean said looking over to the dock. The three of them started running towards it as they saw Bill Carlton heading out on the lake in a speed boat. "Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!"

"Mr. Carlton!" Sam hollered but the man didn't pay attention to them. They all watched in horror as his speed boat rose out of the water and flipped. Bill Carlton did not resurface.

Awhile later they were walking into the police station with the sheriff. "Sam, Dean," Andrea greeted them. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"So now you're on a first-name basis," the Sheriff said gruffly. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you dinner," Andrea explained.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time," the Sheriff replied.

"I heard about Bill Carlton," Andrea said. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"

"Right now we don't know what the truth is," her father replied. "But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Suddenly Lucas started to panic and latched himself onto Dean's arm.

"Lucas, hey, what is it?" asked Dean looking concerned. "Lucas?"

"Lucas," Andrea said trying to pry him off.

"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay," Dean assured him. "Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay." Andrea managed to pull her son away and led him out of the station. Fallon noticed that he didn't look away from Dean once.

"Okay," the Sheriff said pulling Fallon's attention back into focus, "just so I'm clear, you see… something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the drink, and you never see him again?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Dean replied quickly.

"And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake?" the Sheriff asked. "And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?" Dean and Sam looked startled. "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two."

"See, now, we can explain that," Dean started to say but the Sheriff shook his head.

"Enough," he said. "Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."

"Door number two sounds good," Sam said quickly.

"That's the one I'd pick," the Sheriff hissed and dismissed them. The three of them left the station and headed back to the motel to get their belongings.

"Now what?" Fallon asked.

"Nothing," Sam said. "We leave."

"But what about Peter?" Fallon asked.

"We can't always help everyone, Fallon," Sam said.

"It's been nice working with you," Dean said suddenly snapping shut his suitcase.

Fallon looked over at him and felt her heart sink. Since their case was over she'd have to make good on her deal and let them go without her. She had hoped when they'd made the deal though, that by the time the case was finished they'd want her to stay. It looks like she'd been wrong. Although Sam was staring disapprovingly at his brother he wasn't sticking up for her either. Finally she nodded. "Yeah, you too," she said.

"Do you know where you'll go?" Sam asked.

"Out of the suburbs," she tried to laugh but could only grimace. "Maybe I'll find some deserted building to haunt."

"Fallon," Sam said softly.

"I gotta go," Fallon said quickly. "Maybe I'll see you around." She quickly popped out of the motel, but she didn't go to any city. Instead she headed towards the lake. She didn't feel like this case was over. She stared out at the water. "What do you want Peter?" she asked.

"Revenge," a voice hissed in her ear. She jumped and walked closer to the lake. She couldn't have just heard that could she? She walked out on the dock and leaned over peering into the murky water. A ghastly face appeared where her reflection should be and she quickly held back a scream. "Revenge," the voice said again.

Fallon took a few deep breaths. "I don't understand," she told him. "You killed Bill Carlton and his family. Why are you still here, you got your revenge."

"More," Peter said and then his face disappeared back into the water. Fallon sat back on her heels and tried to calm down. What did he mean more? Who was left to take? He'd killed Bill, his son and daughter…even his godson, Christopher Barr. Her head lifted up at that thought. It suddenly struck her as odd that Peter would bother targeting Carlton's godson. There's a possibility that the two weren't related by blood. Fallon puzzled over this new information for a moment with growing dread. She couldn't shake the feeling that Bill Carlton wasn't the only one connected to Peter's disappearance. Peter was going to target the Barr family too. Without waiting another second she quickly popped into the Barr house. She'd watch the family and make sure nothing happened to Andrea or Lucas. She just wished there was some way for her to contact Dean and Sam.

Later that night she watched as Andrea was getting ready to take a bath. Yeah it was a total invasion of privacy, but she couldn't leave her alone knowing that Peter might try and kill her. She watched as Andrea slipped into the water. Fallon didn't take her eyes off the faucet and stiffened when the water became as murky as the lake. "Andrea?" she said desperate to make her listen. "You need to get out of the tub. You need to get out, Andrea. Open your eyes!" She was surprised when Andrea actually did. The woman blinked in surprise and then screamed as she got pulled under. "Andrea!"

Fallon hurried over to the tub and tried to pull Andrea out but her hands kept going right through her. "Dammit!" she hissed and then turned her head when she heard frantic pounding on the door. "Go get help, Lucas!" she shouted still trying to pull Andrea out but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't touch her.

Suddenly she heard someone knocking down the door and turned her head to seem Sam burst in. "Oh thank God," she sighed. "I can't get a hold of her." Sam nodded and quickly reached into the tub and struggled to pull Andrea out. After a few tense moments Sam fell back with Andrea in his arms, both breathing heavily. Fallon sighed in relief and slid down to the floor before looking up at Dean. "Hey," she said smiling slightly.

A few minutes later she and Dean were out in the back while Sam took care of Andrea and Lucas. "What are you doing here?" Dean asked sounding slightly angry.

Fallon frowned and stared back coolly. "Helping," she replied.

"Yeah, but… how did you know to be here?" Dean asked.

"I went back to the lake when I left you," she explained. "I saw him, Dean. I saw Peter. His reflection… talked to me. He said he still wanted revenge and then I got to thinking about the people he's killed. We thought Christopher Barr was connected to Bill because he was his godson, but that doesn't seem right to me now. I think Peter went after him for another reason."

"But how?" Dean questioned rubbing his head.

"I think he's connected through someone else," Fallon replied. "I think someone else is involved with Peter's disappearance I just don't know who."

"I guess we'll have to look for a new lead," Dean sighed.

"I guess so," Fallon agreed. "C'mon, let's go see what Andrea can tell us."

They went back inside where they found Andrea with Sam. She still looked upset but she was now in dry clothes. "Can you tell me?" Sam questioned her.

"No," Andrea said shaking her head. The poor woman looked close to tears. "It doesn't make any sense. I'm going crazy."

"No, you're not," Sam said. "Tell me what happened. Everything."

"I heard," Andrea started and then stopped to take a breath. "I thought I heard… there was this voice."

"What did it say?" Sam asked.

"It said, it said 'come play with me,'" Andrea sobbed. "What's happening?"

Dean suddenly looked up from the yearbook he was searching through. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" he asked showing Andrea the yearbook.

"What?" Andrea puzzled skimming through the pictures. "Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures."

Dean looked back at the yearbook and saw a picture of the Sheriff standing next to Peter. He looked over at Fallon and nodded at her. "You should get something to eat," Sam said kindly to Andrea. "It'll make you feel better."

"You're right," Andrea said and got up and went to the kitchen.

Dean walked over to Sam. "Chris Barr's drowning," he said. "The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff."

"Bill AND the sheriff…they were both involved with Peter," Sam said looking back and forth between Fallon and Dean.

"What about Chris?" Andrea asked coming back into the room. "My dad… what are you talking about?"

Suddenly Dean noticed Lucas at the window. "Lucas?" he asked. "Lucas what is it?" The kid got up and walked outside.

"Lucas, honey?" Andrea called after him as they all followed him outside.

Lucas stopped and glanced up at Dean. Dean nodded and said to Andrea, "You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?"

Andrea grabbed Lucas and hurried back to the house. Fallon watched as Dean and Sam undug a red bike.

"Peter's bike," Sam said dryly.

"Who are you?" a voice asked and they all looked up to see the sheriff pointing a gun at them.

"Put the gun down, Jake," Sam ordered as both he and Dean dropped their shovels.

"How did you know that was there?" Jake asked angrily.

"What happened?" Dean asked. "You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jake replied. Fallon felt a flash of anger surge through her.

"He knows exactly what you're talking about, Dean. I can feel it. Keep pushing him," she ordered.

Dean nodded his head at her. "You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago," Dean said. "That's what the hell I'm talking about."

"Dad!" Andrea called running over to them.

"And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit," Dean continued ignoring Andrea.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love," Sam said. "It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does."

"Yeah, and how do you know that?" Jake hissed.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton," Sam told him.

"Listen to yourselves, both of you," Jake cried. "You're insane."

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us," Dean replied angrily. "But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."

"Dad, is any of this true?" questioned Andrea.

"No," her father replied. "Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous."

"Something tried to drown me," Andrea told him. "Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me. Tell me you…you didn't kill anyone." Jake turned his head away. Admittance if Fallon had ever saw it. "Oh my God."

"Billy and I were at the lake," Jake explained. "Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank. Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drowning, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational."

"All right, listen to me, all of you," Dean stepped in. "We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now."

Suddenly Andrea gasped and they all turned to see Lucas heading down to the lake. "Lucas!" Jake shouted.

"Peter's calling him to the lake," Fallon said running down towards the dock.

"Lucas!" Dean hollered.

"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!" Andrea called but then Lucas got pulled into the water. Sam and Dean dived in after him. "Oh my God!"

"Andrea, stay there!" Sam ordered surfacing.

"No! Lucas!" Andrea cried.

"We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!" Sam cried before diving under again.

"They'll find him," Fallon tried to tell Andrea. "Don't worry." Andrea couldn't hear her but they both watched as Dean and Sam popped back up.

"Sam?" called Dean. Sam shook his head and they both went under again.

"Lucas, where are you?" Andrea yelled. Fallon looked around the surface of the lake and then froze when she saw the sheriff wading into the lake.

"Peter, if you can hear me," Jake called out. "Please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so, I'm so sorry."

"Daddy, no!" Andrea shrieked.

"Jake get out of the water!" Fallon cried.

"Peter," Jake continued to walk out further. "Lucas… he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me."

"Jake, no!" Dean gasped as he came up for air. Fallon watched in horror as surfaced and dragged Jake under.

"Daddy!" Andrea sobbed. "Daddy! No! No!" Sam came back up and shook his head. Fallon felt her heart sink until Dean resurfaced carrying Lucas who looked unharmed. "Thank God!" Andrea cried rushing forward to take Lucas out of Dean's arms. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Anytime," Dean panted as he and Sam pulled themselves up onto the dock.

"Are you alright?" Fallon asked rushing over to the two of them. They nodded. Fallon smiled and looked over at Andrea and Lucas. Lucas was conscious now and they were both clinging to each other. "Thank God it's over."

The next day and they were ready to hit the road. The car was all packed up they just had to stop for gas. "A deal is a deal," Dean argued tossing his suitcase into the trunk.

"Deals can be broken," Fallon argued.

"Not this one," Dean said slamming down the trunk.

"Oh come on!" Fallon cried. "You never would have solved this case without me. I'm a valuable asset."

"Oh really?" Dean said. "Then how come you just stood on the dock while Sam and I practically drowned trying to save Lucas."

"You know I'm transparent to everyone but you two," Fallon said. "I couldn't have helped him."

"C'mon Dean," Sam called coming in on Fallon's behalf. "Let her come. She's right she is helpful. And besides, I think we owe it to her to help her find out what happened to her."

"Please," Fallon begged staring up at Dean.

Dean looked at her and shook his head. "Fine," he sighed giving in. "You can come. But the second you become a problem I will not hesitate in dispatching you."

"Way to make a girl feel welcomed," Fallon muttered but smiled and danced a small victory dance.

"Sam, Dean," Andrea called over to them. She and Lucas were heading their way.

"Hey," Dean greeted them.

"We're glad we caught you," Andrea said. "We just, um, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked eagerly.

"Of course," Andrea replied.

"Come on, Lucas," Dean said. "Let's load this into the car."

"How you holding up?" Sam asked.

Andrea smiled weakly. "It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" she sighed.

"Andrea, I'm sorry," Sam told her.

"You saved my son," Andrea replied simply. "I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."

"It'll get better," Fallon said and then walked over to Dean who was talking to Lucas.

"All right," Dean said, "if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time."

"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas said.

"That's right. Up high," Dean replied.

"Oh God, you're corrupting him," Fallon muttered and Dean actually smiled up at her.

"You take care of your mom, okay?" he said turning back to Lucas.

"All right," Lucas agreed.

"Thank you," Andrea said and then kissed Dean. Fallon frowned as a little twinge of jealously passed over her.

Dean smiled and then shuffled towards the driver side. "Sam, move your ass," he ordered. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."

They all got in the car and started to drive away. Fallon sighed and leaned back in the seat before noticing a sack between the driver and passenger seat. Curious, she leaned forward and peered inside and saw a huge collection of cassette tapes, all classic rock. "Wow," she said flatly. "You complain about me being a ghost…I think someone's music collection has come back to haunt you."

Sam burst out laughing. "I love this girl," he laughed. "She is definitely staying." And he and Fallon laughed even harder at the look on Dean's face.

"This music's classic," Dean said but was ignored. He huffed as they drove away from this case.


	2. Facing Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Fallon's relationship with the Winchester brothers grow, so do the challenges they face. In this chapter Dean must face his fears to help people in need, and a piece of Fallon's past is unlocked. Will she start to regain her memories?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hello. As promised here is chapter two. Please leave a review if you have time. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All rights belong to the creators and writers of the tv show.

Fallon had been with the boys for about a month now and it had been an eventful month. She continued to aid them on their hunts and much to her surprise, as well as Sam's and especially Dean's she continued to prove her value. She was good at it. She was intuitive and the fact that she could communicate with the spirits in a way the Winchesters couldn't helped too. She had been afraid that the boys would regret letting her stay with them, but now she was sure that they were glad they'd found her. Well, at least Sam was glad to have found her. Over the last month Sam and Fallon had grown extremely close; they were practically inseparable. They laughed at each other's jokes, good or bad, and bonded over shared traits. They were both good at research and when the two teamed up they were nearly unstoppable. Their favorite hobby though, was annoying the hell out of Dean.

Things had improved between Fallon and Dean. Dean was not so openly hostile anymore and didn't proclaim that she was an evil spirit every day. However, they weren't really friends yet either. Dean often said some comment meant to hurt her feelings or even piss her off and Fallon wasn't shy about shooting some barbs back. Sam had had to get in the middle of their arguments more than once. But considering how he behaved around her when he first found out she was a ghost whatever relationship they had now was an improvement. Fallon would be lying if she didn't admit that she liked fighting with Dean and sometimes purposely egged him on. She would also be lying if she denied the fact that she was growing increasingly more attracted to him. Who could blame her really? Dean was extremely attractive. But that didn't change the fact that she was a ghost and that nothing could ever happen between her and Dean. That didn't stop her from getting ridiculously jealous at all the female attention Dean got, or make her desire to be human lesson.

As for her human life it was still pretty much a mystery to her. True to their word the Winchesters had helped her figure out what had happened to her, but she still didn't remember anything about herself. Pieces of her life would flash up in her mind every once in a while and she just had to put the pieces back together. She should have been happy to have learned as much as she did about herself but if anything it only increased her anxiety. Staring out at the empty parking lot of the motel Fallon thought back to the day they found out how she'd died.

_It had been their first stop after they got out of Wisconsin. Sam and Dean had both unpacked while Fallon chatted happily on about what she had done and seen in the year she'd been dead. She had just finished telling them a particularly funny story about two overworked parents trying to vacation with their three young children when Sam took out his laptop and asked her, "Do you know where you died?"_

_She had shook her head. "No," she'd replied. "I only remember vague details."_

_Sam had thought for a second. "We can work off that," he'd told her. "What details can you remember?"_

_She'd sighed and thought for a few minutes. "It had been hot out," she'd said. "I remember taking off my blazer. The sun was really bright that day too. I remember wishing I brought my sunglasses." She paused trying to think harder. "The last thing I remember about that day was staring into a pair of bright blue eyes."_

_Sam sighed and shook his head tapping his fingers on the keyboard. "That's not really a lot to go on," Sam had replied. "I'm going to need more than that. You said you were staring into someone's eyes. Think hard now, but did you see anything behind them?"_

_"No I…" Fallon had begun to reply when she froze for a second. "The Lincoln Memorial. He was standing in front of it."_

_Sam immediately began to type something into his search engine. "Found it!" he'd cried after a short minute and then began to read the article. Fallon watched his face fall the further he read along. He looked over at her with a look caught between pure horror and utter sympathy. "I'm sorry Fallon."_

_"What?" Dean had asked from the bed where he'd been pretending he hadn't been listening. "What happened?"_

_Sam turned the computer to face Fallon. "You were murdered," he'd whispered._

_"Murdered?" Dean exclaimed coming over to them. "That can't be right."_

_"It's right," Fallon replied softly. "That's my picture in the article." She didn't take her eyes away from the paper as she read it._

**The Washington Post**

June 19th, 2004: Twenty year old Fallon Romano was shot and killed in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. at 5:30 yesterday evening. Her shooter has been identified as Evan Costa, an ex-boyfriend. The suspect shot himself after shooting Romano point blank with a Colt M1911 that he'd stolen from his father's military collection. The victim died instantly from the wound in her back. Romano was with her boyfriend twenty year old Mason Berk at the time of the shooting. "I saw him walking over towards us," her boyfriend told reporters. "But I didn't see he had a gun until it was too late. She… she fell into my arms and she was gone." Paramedics were unable to resuscitate Romano when they arrived on the scene. Romano is survived by her parents, Carl and Hailey Romano, and a sister, Veda Romano. Her body will be transported back to her home town in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she will be buried in her family cemetery.

_"Fallon, you okay?" Sam had asked her softly when she hadn't spoken for a while. Fallon looked up at him for a moment before she ran over to the big mirror in the hotel room and peeled off her red blazer. She turned around so her back would be facing the mirror and looked over her shoulder to see the reflection. She put a hand over her mouth and choked on a silent scream as she stared at the grisly wound on her back. It was huge and gaping and somehow the blood stains on her white tank top still looked fresh. It was horrible but she couldn't look away even as she saw Dean, who was also staring in horror at her, walk towards her slowly as if he were afraid she might panic and run. She let him approach her and didn't protest when he reached out and prodded gently at her wound._

_"Does that hurt?" he asked softly his eyes blinking a little and his jaw clenched shut._

_"No," she sighed finally turning away from the mirror. "No, it doesn't hurt."_

Other than some other memories coming back to her the only good thing that had come out of discovering what had happened to her was that Dean had been overly nice to her for almost a whole week. Fallon shook her head now and then looked up as a pair of headlights washed over her. She smiled when the Impala pulled up to the building. "When did you leave?" she called out to Sam when he stepped out of the car juggling coffee and donuts.

"About a half hour ago," Sam said walking over towards her. "What have you been up to all night?"

"Not much," she sighed rolling her eyes. "There's nothing you can really do for fun as a ghost. Even if I go to a bar no one can see me and I can't get drunk. It seriously sucks being a ghost."

"Maybe you should start a ghost support group," Sam teased opening the door to the motel room.

"Very funny," Fallon replied before phasing through the wall. "While I have everyone gathered there you and Dean could barge through the doors and salt everyone."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Sam said before noticing Dean was awake. "Morning, sunshine."

"What time is it?" Dean mumbled rubbing his face tiredly.

"Uh, it's about five forty-five," Sam replied.

"In the morning?" Dean asked.

"Yep," Sam answered.

"Where does the day go?" Dean muttered sitting up.

"Beats me," Fallon replied. "But I prefer it when everyone is awake."

Dean looked over at her. "Really?" he questioned. "I would have thought you'd like it better when we're asleep so you can stare at us."

Fallon glared at him. "For the last time," she cried exasperatedly. "I do not watch you in your sleep! I'm not some creeper."

"No, you're just a ghost," Dean shot back.

"Oh another ghost comment," Fallon sighed, "Is that the best you've got because I would really like to …"

"Enough you two," Sam cut in. "It's way too early for you to be at each other's throats."

Dean turned to look at his brother than and noticed how tired Sam looked. "Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours," Sam replied.

"Liar," Dean said. "Cause I was up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial."

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV," Sam quipped.

Fallon snorted. "You just actually made my night sound interesting," she retorted.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam sighed. "A little while, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is," Dean replied.

"Look, I appreciate your concern…"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you," Dean interrupted Sam. "It's your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp. Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?"

"Could you be any more of an insensitive ass?!" Fallon cried smacking Dean on the back of the head. He glared at her and rubbed his head but refused to answer her.

Sam answered Dean after giving him his coffee. "Yeah," he admitted. "But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you."

"You can't let it," Dean told him. "You can't bring it home like that."

"So what?" Sam replied. "All this it… never keeps you up at night?" Dean shook his head. "Never? You're never afraid?"

"No, not really," Dean said. Sam smirked and reached under Dean's pillow pulling out a huge knife. Dean reached over and snatched the knife back. "That's not fear. That is precaution."

"I believe the correct term is paranoia," Fallon snickered and then yelped when Dean shoved her off the bed.

"All right, whatever," Sam muttered. "I'm too tired to argue."

Dean opened his mouth about to press the point further when his cell began to ring. "Hello?" he said into the phone. Fallon and Sam waited for Dean to finish his phone call before asking who it was. "A man named Jerry Panowski. He needs our help."

"Guess it's time to get back on the road," Fallon sighed as the other two began to pack up.

"Guess so," Sam replied. A few hours later and they were pulling up to an airport and stepping out of the car when a man rushed over to greet them.

"Hey," the man said. "How are you Dean? And who's this?"

"I'm doing good, Jerry," Dean replied. "This is my brother, Sam. He's in this business too."

"Nice to meet you, Sam. Thanks for making the trip so quick," Jerry said. "I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean and your dad really helped me out."

"Yeah, he told me," Sam replied. "It was a poltergeist?"

"Poltergeist?" a man walking by asked. "Man, I loved that movie!"

"Me too!" Fallon cried excitedly. "'They're back.'" She ducked her head when Dean glared at her.

"Hey, nobody's talking to you," grumbled Jerry. "Keep walking. Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something, if it weren't for you and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I was. I'm…taking some time off," Sam answered.

"Well, he was real proud of you," Jerry said. "I could tell. He talked about you all the time."

"He did?" Sam asked surprised and Fallon rolled her eyes. She had learned in their month together that Sam had a complicated relationship with his father. He had once told her when Dean went out that he thought he was his father's greatest disappointment. Fallon had firmly told him that there was no way that that was true but Sam hadn't believed her. Now that Jerry told him that his dad was proud of him he would think differently.

"Yeah, you bet he did," Jerry assured him. "Oh hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing anyway?"

"He's um, wrapped up in a job right now," Dean said coming up with an excuse.

"Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam," Jerry replied. "Even trade, huh?"

"No, not by a long shot," Sam murmured while Dean laughed.

"I got something I want you guys to hear," Jerry said and led them to his office. "I listened to this, and, well… it sounded like it was up your alley. Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours." He pressed play on the tape recorder and then the room filled with the sound of the plane crashing:

**_Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! 2485-immediate instruction…may be experiencing some mechanical failure…_**

Fallon and the boys listened to the recording and then heard the eerie whooshing noise at the end of the recording. Jerry stopped the recording. "Took off from here," he said. "Crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh… well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault."

"You don't think it was?" Sam asked.

"No, I don't," Jerry replied softly.

"It's a terrible thing to have happen," Fallon said. "I really hope it was just an accident."

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors," Sam said.

"All right," Jerry replied.

"And, uh, anyway we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean asked.

Jerry shook his head. "The other stuff is no problem," he told them. "But the wreckage… fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in the evidence warehouse. No way I got that kind of clearance."

"No problem," Dean said a little ominously.

"I don't like that sound of that no problem," Fallon said quickly as they headed back towards the Impala. "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"It's the only way we'll be able to get in to see the plane," Dean explained sliding behind the wheel. "Besides, no one can see you. It's not like you'll get in trouble."

"No, but you can," she pointed out. "And I'm a ghost. I can't bail you out if you get caught?"

"We won't get caught," Dean scoffed.

"Well, for your sake I hope not," she said rolling her eyes.

About an hour later Sam and Fallon were waiting for Dean by the Impala. They finally saw him come out of the Copy Jack. "You've been in there forever," Sam complained.

"You can't rush perfection," Dean replied holding up their new fake IDs.

"That's pretty illegal, even for us," he said glancing his over.

"Yeah, well, it's something new," Dean responded. "You know? People haven't seen it a thousand times. All right, so, what do you got?"

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder," Sam said.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"Listen," Sam said playing the tape: The tape was staticy but a voice could be made out saying, "No survivors."

"No survivors?" Dean questioned. "What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors."

"Got me," Sam replied.

"Maybe there weren't supposed to be any survivors," Fallon put in. "Maybe those seven people just got lucky. Anyway, I think the bigger question is what brought down the plane?"

"So, what are you thinking, Sam?" Dean inquired. "A haunted flight?"

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers," Sam said.

"Mm-hmm," Dean hummed.

"Or remember flight 401?" Sam asked.

"Right," Dean replied. "The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights."

"That sucks," Fallon said.

"Yep," Dean responded.

"Maybe we got a similar deal," Sam suggested.

"All right, so, survivors," Dean said. "Which one do you want to talk to first?"

"Third on the list: Max Jaffey," Sam replied instantly.

"Why him?" Dean questioned.

"Well, for one, he's from around here," Sam replied. "And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did."

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.

"Well, I spoke to his mother," Sam answered. "And guess where Max checked himself into?" Dean shrugged.

Sam smiled and looked back at Fallon nodding for her to tell him. She smiled brightly at Dean. "Looney Town," she replied and laughed when Dean began to smile back.

A short while later and they were at the mental hospital talking to Max. "I don't; understand," Max said. "I already spoke with Homeland Security."

"Right," Dean replied. "Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions."

"Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything…unusual?" Sam asked.

"Like what?" Max replied.

"Strange light, weird noises, maybe. Voices," Dean suggested.

"No, nothing," Max said.

"Mr. Joffey…"

"Jaffey," Max corrected him sounding annoyed.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" Dean questioned and Max nodded. "Can I ask why?"

"I was a little stressed," Max replied tersely. "I survived a plane crash."

"I'd rather be coping at home comfortably," Fallon said quietly in Dean's ear. "I think the majority of the population would. I think he's lying. He checked himself in here for another reason."

"Uh huh," Dean murmured answering both of them. "And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?"

"I, I don't want to talk about this anymore," Max answered.

"See, I think maybe you did see something up there," Dean pushed. "We need to know what."

"No," Max replied shaking his head. "No, I was… delusional. Seeing things."

"He was seeing things," Dean replied looking up at Sam with an amused look on his face.

"You're an ass," Fallon snapped.

"It's okay," Sam told Max. "Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please."

Max sighed. "There was this…man," he said. "And, uh, he had these… eyes, these, uh… black eyes. And I saw him… or thought I saw him…"

"What?" Dean asked impatiently. Fallon pinched the back of his hand. "Ow!" Max stared curiously at Dean when he jerked his hand away. Dean tried to play it off. "Bee sting."

Max continued speaking. "He opened the emergency exit," he told them. "But that's, that's impossible, right? I mean I looked it up. There's' something like two tons of pressure on that door."

"This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly?" Sam inquired. "It would look something like a mirage?"

"What are you nuts?" Max scoffed.

"You're the one in Quack Ville," Fallon said.

Sam, too, gave him an odd look and Max replied, "He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me."

"Thank you for your time," Dean said and the three left the hospital. As soon as they got back in the car Dean turned around to glare at Fallon in the back seat. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being a total ass!" Fallon shot back. "He clearly was having a hard time telling you his story. He may not be nuts like he thinks he is but he's still recovering from a traumatic experience. You could afford to be a little more understanding."

"Yeah, well I don't think anything I did warranted you pinching me," Dean snapped. "Now my hands all red." He thrust his hand into her face. She glanced it over. It was pretty red.

"What do you want me to do, kiss it better?" she asked shoving his hand away. Sam laughed and Dean glared at the two of them. "C'mon let's go talk to this mysterious passengers wife."

"So here we are," Sam said when the Impala parked in front of a two story house. "George Phelps, seat 20C."

"Hmmm," Dean hummed. "Man, I don't care how strong you are. Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight."

"Not if you're human," Sam agreed. "But maybe this guy George was something else. Some kind of creature, maybe, in human form."

"Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" Dean asked pointing at the house.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Fallon said.

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, just look at you," Dean smirked. "On first glance, you actually look nice."

Sam grabbed her before she could strangle Dean who was walking up to the house. "You two really have to give it a rest," Sam said catching up to Dean.

"She started it," Dean replied.

"Well, I'm ending it," Sam said firmly glancing sternly back and forth between the two of them.

"Fine," Fallon said. "But if he pushes my buttons one more time I'll show him the real meaning of vengeful spirit."

Dean glared at her and then turned to Sam. "You know we're in Pennsylvania," Dean pointed out. "Scranton's not that far of a drive away."

"Alright enough!" Sam shouted just as the door opened.

"Can I help you?" a middle aged woman asked looking warily between the two brothers.

Fallon smirked. "I'll see you two inside," she said and slipped past the woman into the house and started looking around. A few minutes later and she heard the other two be invited in. She popped into the living room where the woman and Dean and Sam were all seated.

"This is your late husband?" Sam asked looking at a photograph.

"Yes, that was my George," Mrs. Phelps replied.

"And you said he was a… dentist?" Dean questioned.

"Mm-hmm," the woman nodded her head. "He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that…"

"I'm so sorry," Fallon murmured sitting on the couch next to her.

"How long were you married?" Sam asked.

"Thirteen years," replied Mrs. Phelps.

"In all that time, did you ever notice anything…strange about him, anything out of the ordinary?" Sam inquired.

"Well, uh, he had acid reflux if that's what you mean," Mrs. Phelps replied sounding confused. Fallon laughed softly at the looks on the boys' faces.

"Well, that wasn't very helpful," Fallon said as they left the house.

"It goes without saying it just doesn't make any sense," Sam sighed.

"A middle-aged dentist with an ulcer is not exactly evil personified," Dean agreed.

"Unless you're Orin Scrivello, you know, from 'Little Shop of Horrors,'" Fallon chuckled.

Dean smiled at her joke before thinking quietly for a moment. "You know what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage," he said seriously.

"Okay," Sam sighed not looking thrilled with the idea. "But if we're gonna go that route, we'd better look the part."

"Okay, well this I gotta see," Fallon laughed and slipped into the backseat of the Impala. Fallon burst out laughing as Sam and Dean came out of the store wearing their rented suits. "Okay you two look so ridiculous."

Dean scowled at her and looked down at himself in the suit. "I look like one of the Blues Brothers," he muttered.

"No, you don't," Sam disagreed. "You look more like a… seventh grader at his first dance."

"Omigod you do!" Fallon laughed looping her arm through Dean's. He frowned but didn't shrug her off.

"I hate this thing," he said.

"Hey, you want into that warehouse or not?" Sam asked.

Fallon watched Dean's jaw tighten. He was clearly uncomfortable in the suit. "You look handsome," she said giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. "When we get out of the warehouse you can hit up some bar and pick up some poor girl."

Dean smirked at her. "Some lucky girl you mean," he said but didn't complain anymore about the suit. "Let's go." The three got into the car and drove to the warehouse and got past the guards no problem.

"Looks like your monkey suits worked," Fallon said cheerfully as they came upon the wreckage.

"Yeah," Dean said and then reached an arm out in front of her to get her to stop walking. "Can you wander over there and out of the way?"

"What?" she cried. "Why? The planes over there."

"I know but I don't want you confusing the readings," Dean said pulling out some sort of device for her to see. She wanted to argue further but instead she just rolled her eyes and stalked off across the room.

"What is that?" Sam asked.

"It's an EMF meter, reads electromagnetic frequencies," Dean answered but was looking at Fallon. She nodded her head to show her understanding.

"Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why does that one look like a busted-up Walkman?" Sam asked.

"'Cause that's what I made it out of," Dean explained grinning. "It's homemade."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sam replied and Dean glowered at him.

"Hey, that's actually really impressive," Fallon called from where she was standing on the opposite side of the room. "I couldn't even make a popsicle stick birdhouse in art class." Dean looked over at her looking surprised. She didn't blame him. She usually only picked on him.

"Thanks," he said finally and began to scan the plane wreck with his EMF. "Check out the emergency door handle. What is this stuff?"

"One way to find out," Sam replied and scraped the yellow dust into a bag. "Fallon, you can come over now."

"Find anything supernatural?" she asked stepping up next to Sam and peering at the residue on the door handle.

"Could be," Dean answered and then the doors suddenly burst open and they could hear people heading towards them.

"Busted," Fallon said and they began to run towards the emergency exit and ran outside. Dean and Sam looked around the corner of the building and began to walk out when an alarm went off. Sam and Dean took off again and quickly climbed over the gate with the help of Dean's suit jacket. When the both reached the ground they looked back as if they were waiting for someone else. Fallon coughed and the two whirled around to stare at her in shock. She looked at them like they were idiots. "I'm a ghost remember," she said. "I can just pop in and out of places. I can walk through walls. Gates aren't exactly a problem for me."

Dean frowned at her and pulled down his jacket. "Well, these monkey suits do come in handy," he muttered and began to run for the Impala. Sam shrugged and ran after him, Fallon following behind. "Okay, we need to go see Jerry."

"You think he'll know what that substance is?" Fallon asked leaning forward between the front seats.

"Well, we'll know soon enough," Dean replied and drove off to the airport.

"How's it going guys?" Jerry asked when they entered his office.

"It's going, Jerry," Dean answered. "Hey, we were able to get in to see that wreckage."

Jerry shook his head in amusement. "I won't ask how you managed that one," he replied. "I'm guessing you found something." Sam nodded and pulled out the bag with the strange substance they'd found on the emergency door of the plane.

"We found this stuff on the wreckage," Sam said handing the bag over to Jerry. "We were hoping you could identify it."

"No problem," replied Jerry standing up and heading over to another desk in his office. He pulled out a microscope and set it up before placing what they'd found under the lens. "Huh," he said after a minute. "This stuff is covered in sulfur."

"You're sure?" Sam asked sounding uneasy.

"Take a look for yourself," Jerry answered and stepped back from the microscope. Suddenly they heard someone in the vicinity start to curse and Jerry excused himself.

Fallon peered into the microscope. "That's definitely sulfur," she told the boys. "It was the only element I could ever identify from the periodic table in chemistry class."

"Hmm," Dean sighed. "You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue."

"Demonic possession?" Sam inquired.

"It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch," Dean replied.

"If the guy was possessed it's possible," Sam said.

"Hold on a minute," Fallon cut in. "Demons are real?"

Dean gave her a funny look. "If ghosts are real why can't demons be real?" he replied.

"Ghosts used to be living people," Fallon answered. "It makes sense that we exist. But demons… they're just supposed to be religious crap."

Sam smiled and laughed. "I guess you weren't particularly religious during your life," he laughed.

Fallon smiled. "No, not really," she answered.

"Well, demons exist whether you believe in them or not. And one thing I know for sure," Dean said seriously, "this goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire plane?"

"You ever heard of something like this before?" Sam asked.

"Never," Dean replied shaking his head.

"Well, you know what they say. There's a first time for everything," Fallon replied. "Although I gotta say, I really wish in this case that wasn't true."

"So what now?" Sam asked.

"Research," Dean replied. "We need to find out what we're dealing with here."

"I guess we better get back to the room," Sam said. The three made their way back to the room and immediately began to look for similar instances.

"It feels nice to be back to researching," Fallon said cheerfully flipping through a book. She'd recently begun practicing controlling objects with her mind. She was still pretty faulty but today she was on a roll. She had picked the book up and was now able to flip through the pages no problem. It was a nice change from before when she was transparent to everything. Dean gave her a weird look.

"You like doing research?" he asked sounding like he thought she was crazy.

Fallon shrugged. "It's not so much that I like doing it," she replied. "But it reminds me of when I was back in college. I'm happy to do anything that brings back some of my memory."

"You went to college?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Fallon replied. "I was a history major with a concentration in secondary education. I was going to be a teacher. I had been out of my sophomore year for a little over a month when I died."

"You mean when you were murdered," Dean said.

"Yes, Dean," she sighed. "Thank you for reminding me. I mean could you be anymore insensitive?"

"Probably," Dean replied shrugging.

Fallon glared at him before turning to Sam. "Have you found anything?" she inquired.

He nodded. "So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right?" Sam said. "I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it."

"Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this," Dean pointed out.

"Well, that's not exactly true," Sam disagreed. "You see according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One cause earthquakes, another causes diseases."

"And this one causes plane crashes?" Dean asked speculatively. "All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"

"It makes sense," Fallon said. "I mean to be efficient you have to adapt to new situations. A plane crash is definitely going to cause death and destruction."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Dean scoffed. "What?"

"I don't know, man," Dean replied. "This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake, like Fallon just pointed out. This is big. And I wish Dad was here."

"Yeah, me too," Sam sighed.

Dean was about to say something else when his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered it. He talked on the phone for a few minutes and Fallon watched him grow tenser as the seconds went by.

"Another crash?" Sam asked when Dean hung up the phone.

"Yeah. Let's go," Dean said.

"Where?" Sam questioned.

"Nazareth," Dean replied.

"Do you know where you're going?" Fallon asked. "I know the way of if you don't. This is my home state after all."

Dean smiled at her amused. "You want to be the road map that's fine with me," he answered and they got back on the road to go visit the other plane crash. Later that day they found their way back to Jerry's office and using the microscope again. "Sulfur?" Dean asked. Jerry nodded his head confirming what they already knew. "Well, that's great. All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him."

"With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be good news," Sam replied. Fallon couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. If Chuck had been targeted the demon had finished the job and there wouldn't be any more plane crashes. However, Fallon was also one hundred percent positive that that wasn't the case. They just didn't have that kind of luck.

"What's the bad news?" Dean asked apparently thinking along the same line as Fallon.

"Chuck's plane went down at exactly forty minutes into flight," Sam said. "And get this, so did flight 2485."

"Forty minutes?" Jerry mumbled. "What does that mean?"

"It's biblical numerology," Dean explained. "You know Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death."

"I guess that explains why people get midlife crises," Fallon muttered only slightly amused. Dean nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down at exactly forty minutes in," Sam told them.

"Any survivors?" Dean questioned.

"No," Sam replied. "Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason. On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP said?"

"'No survivors,'" Dean muttered. "It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job. Fallon was right."

"Who's Fallon?" Jerry asked confused.

Dean looked startled to have slipped but Sam quickly answered, "She's another hunter. We called and asked her if she'd ever heard about anything like this before. She speculated that the demon might target the survivors."

Jerry nodded. "There's got to be some way to stop this right?" he asked.

"We're going to do everything in our power to stop this from happening again, Jerry," Dean assured him.

"We need to go," Sam said. "We need a plan."

"Good luck, boys," Jerry said as the three left the office.

"Well, this news sucks," Fallon muttered.

"Not happy to be right for once, I see," Dean replied.

"Don't sound so smug," Fallon snapped. "You almost gave me away in there."

"Okay guys we don't have time for this right now," Sam said stopping them before they could really get into it. "We need to find a way to make sure none of the survivors plan on getting on a plane anytime soon."

"Yeah, well how are we going to do that?" Dean asked.

Fallon smiled and focused on Sam's phone until it lifted out of his pocket and into his hands. "There's always phone surveys," she replied smiling.

"That's actually a really good idea," Dean said looking impressed.

"I'm just full of them," she murmured and ducked out of the way before Dean could push her. "You still have the passenger list, Sammy?"

"I'll get on it," he said and immediately called the first name on the list. A little while later and he made his last call. "All right, that takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon."

"So our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker," Dean said.

"Right," Sam answered. "Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job."

"That sounds like just our luck," Dean sighed stepping harder on the gas.

"Dean, this is a five hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel," Sam pointed out.

"Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass," Dean ordered.

"I already left her three voice messages," Sam said. "She must have her cellphone off."

"God, does the whole universe have to be against us?" Fallon sighed.

"We're never gonna make it," Sam muttered.

"We'll make it," Dean said firmly and pressed harder on the gas pedal.

By some miracle they got to the airport in time. "Right there," Sam panted. "They're boarding in thirty minutes."

"Okay," Dean said. "We still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone."

"There's one over there," Fallon said.

Dean walked over to it and picked it. "Hi. Gate thirteen," he said into it. "I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on flight, um…flight 424."

"Did you get her?" Fallon asked.

He was about to shake his head when instead he said, "Miss. Walker, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here. Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so…" His face fell suddenly and Fallon had the sinking feeling that his bluff had been called. Just as quickly as his face fell then it suddenly lit up again. "Guilty as charged. He's really sorry." He talked to her for a few more seconds before he yelled, "No, no! Wait Amanda, Amanda! Damn it so close!"

"All right, it's time for plan B," Sam said. "We're getting on that plane."

Fallon shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," she replied and started to saunter off to the gates.

She was stopped however when Dean burst out, "Whoa, whoa, now just hold on a second."

"Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is going to crash," Sam insisted.

"I know," Dean said as if Sam was stupid for implying the obvious.

Sam didn't notice Dean's discomfort and continued saying, "Okay. So we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever you think that will make it through security. Meet me back here in five minutes." Dean didn't say anything. Fallon was surprised to see that he actually looked petrified. Sam suddenly noticed too and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No, not really," Dean answered.

"What? What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh…" Dean sputtered.

"You're afraid of flying?" Fallon said a huge smile spreading across her face.

"It's never really been an issue until now," Dean replied defending himself.

"You're joking, right?" Sam asked annoyed.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Dean snapped. "Why do you think I drive everywhere?"

"All right," Sam said. "Uh, I'll go."

"What?" Dean cried.

"I'll do this one with just me and Fallon," Sam explained.

"What are you nuts?" Dean asked. "You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash. Fallon, you can't really be thinking of going on that plane? Why don't you talk him out of it?"

Fallon gave him a funny look. "You seem to keep forgetting the fact that I'm a ghost, Dean," she replied snarkily. "The plane crashes what's gonna happen to me? What, am I going to break a leg? And I think you and I both know I can't talk Sam out of anything if he already is set on doing it."

"Dean, we can do it together, or Fallon and I have got it. I'm not seeing a third option, here," Sam said.

"Come on!" Dean cried. "Really? Man…"

"C'mon, I'll go with you to get the gear," Fallon said grabbing his hand and pulling Dean towards the exit. "Sam, go get the tickets."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Dean muttered as he started throwing clothes in a bag.

"I can't believe you're afraid of flying." Fallon laughed. "Seriously, what is there to be afraid of?"

"Crashing," Dean answered slamming the trunk shut.

"You have a better chance of being struck by lightning," Fallon replied.

"Yeah, well we already know this flight is going down," Dean insisted.

"It won't if we can stop it," Fallon said. "Anyway, hurry up scaredy cat. Sam's going to wonder where we are."

"I am not a scaredy cat," Dean called after her.

"Whatever, chicken," she called back and smiled when she saw him glaring at her.

"You ready to go?" Sam asked as they walked over to him.

"I am," Fallon replied smiling. "I'm not sure yellow belly is."

"Knock it off," Dean snapped at her.

"What it's true," Fallon said as the two boys handed their tickets over to an employee.

Fallon continued onto the plane. She was surprised when Dean caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "Don't leave my sight," he said urgently.

"What? Why, do you think I'm gonna open the emergency hatch in flight?" she asked annoyed.

"No," Dean said shaking his head. "The demon might not like your presence on board. I'd feel better if you were where I could help you."

Fallon blinked in surprise. "Okay," she promised. "I won't stray from your side."

"Good," he said nodding his head and then looked anxious again as he actually stepped onto the plane.

Fallon laughed. "Of course maybe the real reason you want me right next to you is to catch you if you pass out," she teased placing a reassuring hand on his back and walked with him to his seat.

"Leave him alone, Fallon," Sam said. "You can laugh all you want at him later."

Fallon smiled deviously at him before responding loud enough for just Dean and Sam to hear, "If there is a later."

"Jesus Christ!" Dean muttered and Sam gave her a look as they took their seats.

"Just try to relax," Sam said to Dean.

"Just try to shut up," Dean snapped back and then clenched his seat and flinched when the plane began to take off. Fallon smirked from where she was standing in the aisle and gasped and screeched to freak Dean out. Sam just shook his head at her.

"Please don't get him going," he begged and Fallon backed off. She remained standing in the aisle and entertained herself by people watching. She liked guessing where the other passengers were going and why. There was one family with three kids that all looked excited and Fallon liked to believe they were heading somewhere fun, or were going to visit a grandparent. Then there was the guy in the business suit who she imagined was stressing over some big meeting for whatever company he worked for. She picked up some conversations here and then. Right now she could hear someone humming and frowned when she realized it was Dean. "You're humming Metallica?" Sam asked.

"Calms me down," Dean replied.

"Metallica calms you down?" Fallon said in disbelief. "You have got to be the strangest person I've ever met."

"Look, man, I get you're nervous," Sam said. "But you got to stay focused."

"Okay," Dean replied nodding his head.

"I mean, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism," Sam said.

"Yeah, on a crowded plane," Dean snapped. "That's gonna be easy."

"Yeah, well no one ever said it was going to be easy," Fallon said.

"Just take it one step at a time, all right?" Sam replied. "Now, who is it possessing?"

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through," Dean explained. "Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress." Fallon raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to make a sarcastic remark but Sam cut her off.

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash," Sam said. "If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up."

"If I were her I'd never get on a plane again," Fallon muttered. "I'd say there's a good chance she's our chink in the armor. Ah shit!" The biggest downside of being a ghost is when someone walks through you. Even worse is when they stop when they're still stuck in your torso.

Dean and Sam both looked slightly amused at her discomfort, but Dean immediately changed his expression to a serious one and asked the flight attendant that was totally invading her personal space, "Are you Amanda?"

"No, I'm not," the flight attendant replied.

"Oh, my mistake," Dean mumbled and the attendant moved on.

"Ugh, I hate it when that happens," Fallon muttered. "Anyway, there's usually two attendants on planes; we just need to find the other one. She's probably back there." Fallon pointed towards the other side of the plane.

"All right," Dean said. "I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state."

"What if she's already possessed?" Sam inquired.

"There's ways to test that," Dean replied and reached into his carry on and pulled out a bottle of what looked like water. "I brought holy water."

"No," Sam said immediately.

"You splash that on her and she's not possessed you're gonna end up looking like some kind of terrorist," Fallon replied agreeing with Sam.

"I think we can go more subtle," Sam said. "If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God."

"Oh. Nice," Dean replied and started to rise out of his seat.

"Hey," Sam called him back.

"What?" Dean asked looking back.

"Say it in Latin," Sam ordered.

"I know," Dean said and started to go but Sam called him back again.

"Uh, in Latin, it's Christo," he told Dean.

"Dude, I know!" Dean snapped. "I'm not an idiot!"

"Could have fooled me," Fallon mumbled and earned a glare from Dean.

"Wait, Dean!" Sam called out again.

Dean spun around and seriously looked like he was thinking about knocking Sam's lights out. "What now?" he hissed.

"Take Fallon with you," he said. "If she's possessed the demon might react to her presence."

Dean groaned but nodded his head. "Fine," he replied and started to make his way to the back of the plane with Fallon following behind him. She laughed when the plane hit some turbulence and Dean stopped dead in his tracks and thumped one of the seats.

"Relax, princess," she teased. "Try not to pass out on me." She saw his shoulders stiffen but he didn't turn around or acknowledge her otherwise. They continued to make their way to the end of the plane where Amanda was bustling over a cart.

"Hi," Dean greeted meekly.

"Hi. Can I help you with something?" Amanda asked smiling.

"Oh, no," Dean replied. "I'm just a bit of an uneasy flier. It makes me feel better to walk around a little."

"A little bit of an uneasy flier?" Fallon said incredulously. "That is the understatement of the century! You make the Cowardly Lion look brave."

Dean opened his mouth to shoot some insult back but Amanda spoke first. "Oh, it happens to the best of us," she reassured him.

Dean shook his head to refocus on the task at hand. "Of course, you being a stewardess, I guess flying comes easy to you," he said.

"You'd be surprised," Amanda laughed sounding slightly amused.

"Really? You're a nervous flier?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit," Amanda answered shrugging.

"How is it that, being a stewardess, you're scared to fly?" Dean inquired.

"Kind of a long story," Amanda replied.

"Not really," Fallon disagreed. "It doesn't take too long to say I was on a plane that crashed and now flying makes me nervous."

"Yeah, and I'm the insensitive one," Dean muttered quietly under his breath,

"What was that?" Amanda asked looking over at him confused.

"Uh, nothing," Dean replied. "I hope I didn't upset you with that question. I'm sorry for asking."

"It's okay," Amanda said smiling.

"You ever consider other employment?" Dean asked.

Amanda shook her head. "No. Look, everybody's scared of something," she replied. "I just, uh… I'm not gonna let it hold me back."

"Huh," Dean replied and then said very quickly, "Christo."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Amanda asked.

Dean stared awkwardly at her for a moment before replying, "Christo?"

"I…I didn't, I didn't…" Amanda stuttered but Dean cut her off.

"Yeah, nothing. Never mind," he said and walked away. Fallon followed behind him.

"Well, she definitely thinks you're crazy," she laughed.

"Shut up," Dean muttered and plopped back into his seat. "All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet."

"Well, she's certainly putting you to shame," Fallon replied.

"Could you give it a rest?" Dean said a little too loudly, but no one seemed to notice.

"You said Christo?" Sam asked before Fallon could respond.

"Yeah," Dean sighed aggravated.

"And?" Sam inquired.

"There's no demon in her," Dean snapped. "There's no demon getting in her."

"So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone. Anywhere," Sam replied.

"Comforting thought, isn't it?" Fallon said sarcastically as the plane hit more turbulence.

"Come on!" Dean cried. "That can't be normal!"

"Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence," Sam said comfortingly.

"Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay?" Dean barked. "So quit treating me like I'm friggin' four."

"You need to calm down," Sam replied firmly.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't," Dean said waspishly.

"Yes, you can," Sam assured him.

"Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping," Dean cried.

"Listen, if you're panicked you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down. Right now," Sam whispered sternly. Dean took a few deep breaths and Fallon took pity on him and grabbed hold of his hand and rubbed soothing circles into his palm with her thumb. He didn't even try to pull his hand away. "Good," Sam said. "Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work. The Rituale Romanum."

"What do we have to do?" Dean asked stilling breathing deeply.

"It's two parts," Sam explained. "The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful."

"More powerful?" Dean questioned. "How?"

"Well, it doesn't need to possess someone anymore," Sam answered. "It can just wreak havoc on its own."

"Oh?" Dean responded. "And how is that a good thing?"

"Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all," Sam replied.

"Sounds good to me," Fallon said and started to take back her hand but Dean clutched onto it tightly so she went back to rubbing circles into his palm.

"First things first, we got to find it," Dean said.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Fallon asked.

Dean pulled out his EMF meter. "You don't even have to get out of the way this time," he told her. "The demon's gonna affect this thing more than you." He got up and started walking up and down the aisle, subtly holding it near passengers. Sam got up and clapped Dean on the shoulder. "Ah! Don't do that."

"Anything?" Sam asked.

"No, nothing except what it's picking up from Fallon," Dean replied. "How much time we got?"

"Fifteen minutes," Sam answered shortly. "Maybe we missed somebody."

"Maybe the things just not on the plane," Dean said hopefully.

"You believe that?" Sam asked doubtfully.

"Well, I will if you will," Dean responded. Suddenly the EMF meter went out of control as the copilot came out of the bathroom.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked.

Dean looked at the copilot. "Christo," he said loud enough for him to hear. The copilot flinched and turned around to glare at the three of them. His eyes were black.

"Whoa! What was that?" Fallon asked when he went into the cockpit.

"That's our demon," Sam replied.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Now we've got to lure it to us," Sam replied. "C'mon, I've got a plan." He led them to the back of the plane where Amanda was.

"She's not going to believe this."

"Twelve minutes, dude," Dean urged and they stepped behind the curtain.

"Oh, hi," Amanda said looking up when they stepped in. "Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope."

"Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about," Dean replied.

"Um, okay," Amanda said giving him a strange look. "What can I do for you?"

"All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech right now," Dean replied brusquely.

"Look, we know you were on flight 2485," Sam said.

Amanda looked stricken. "Who are you guys?" she asked sounding slightly afraid.

"Relax," Fallon said. "They're here to help."

"Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors," Sam kept on saying. "We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure."

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now," Dean said.

"I'm sorry, I…I'm very busy," Amanda stuttered. "I have to go back…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean said blocking her from leaving. "Wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh…. The pilot in 2485, Chuck Lambert. He's dead."

"Wait. What? What, Chuck is dead?" Amanda cried.

"He died in a plane crash," Dean told her. "Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?"

"I…" Amanda murmured.

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485," Sam cut in. "Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too."

"Amanda, you have to believe us," Dean insisted.

"I know this sounds crazy, but please have some faith," Fallon urged stepping up and whispering in her ear. She concentrated on making her hear what she was saying. "You feel it in your gut that we're right. Please, believe us."

Amanda's eyes widened and she looked right at her for a second before returning her attention to Dean. "On… on 2485 there was this man. He… had these eyes," she said.

"Yes. That's exactly what we're talking about," Sam encouraged.

Amanda shook her head. "I don't understand," she said. "What are you asking me to do?"

"Okay," Dean replied. "The copilot, we need you to bring him back here."

"Why?" Amanda asked. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Don't have time to explain," Dean insisted. "We just need to talk to him. Okay?"

"How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the copilot…?"

"Do whatever it takes," Sam ordered. "Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit."

Amanda shook her head. "Do you know that I could lose my job…?"

"Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out," Dean snapped.

"Don't terrorize her," Fallon scolded and concentrated on getting a message across to Amanda again. "Please, Amanda. We need your help."

Amanda hesitated for another moment before nodding her head. "Okay," she agreed and then ducked out from behind the curtain. She came back a few moments later with the copilot.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" the copilot asked stepping behind the curtain. Dean punched him then and pinned him to the floor before placing duct tape over his mouth.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Amanda asked. "You said you were just gonna talk to him."

"We are gonna talk to him," Dean replied before splashing holy water on the copilot. Fallon watched with her eyes widening as the copilot began to smoke and singe.

"Oh, my god," Amanda cried. "What's wrong with him?"

"Look, we need you calm," Sam said. "We need you outside the curtain."

"Well, I don't underst- I don't know…" Amanda spluttered.

"Don't let anybody in, okay?" Sam said. "Can you do that? Amanda?"

"Okay. Okay," Amanda agreed and left.

"Hurry up, Sam," Dean urged. "I don't know how much longer I can hold him."

"I can't hold him either," Fallon said. "I'm not strong enough to pin him down."

Sam nodded and opened up his book and began to recite, "Regna terrae, cantata Deo, psallite Domino…" Suddenly the demon broke free from Dean's grip and knocked Dean around for a minute before Fallon landed a lucky punch and Dean managed to subdue it again. Sam tried to continue with exorcism but the demon knocked Dean off and pulled the tape off its mouth and grabbed Sam.

"I know what happened to your girlfriend!" it hissed. "She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!" Dean and Fallon tackled it back into submission, but Sam was too stunned to continue.

"Sam!" Dean ordered. Sam shook his head and got himself back on track. He put the book down for a second to help Dean and the demon kicked it out somewhere on the plane.

"I got him," Sam said and suddenly the demon escaped the copilot's body and disappeared inside a vent. "Where'd it go?"

Fallon shrugged but Dean said, "It's in the plane. Hurry up, we got to finish it." He just finished saying that when suddenly the plane began to drop.

"Whoa!" Fallon cried as Sam dropped to the ground and Dean got pinned to the emergency exit door. She seemed to be immune to gravity and could still move around. She quickly ran out into the aisle of the plane to look for Sam's book so they could finish the exorcism. She finally found it under someone's seat and slid it quickly to Sam. "Hurry up, Sam!" she called and rushed back to Dean who was still screaming. She grabbed onto his hand, promising herself she'd laugh at him later, and offered whatever small comfort she could while Sam finally finished the exorcism and the plane miraculously leveled out. Fallon sighed in relief. "Thank God," she said and let go of Dean's hand to go make sure Sam was okay. Sam was back on his feet outside the curtain. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "How's Dean?" Fallon was about to answer when Dean poked his head out. She choked back a laugh when she saw the look on his face. He actually looked a little sick with his hair all messed up and his skin pale and clammy. "He'll live," Fallon replied and offered them both a smile. "You better get back to your seats. I'm sure we'll be landing soon." Sure enough, the plane did land after calling in to a nearby airport. Sam, Dean, and Fallon exited the plane with the other passengers and after answering a few questions for the multiple FBI and FAA officers wandered around through the airport. They could see the copilot being interviewed and Amanda as well. She noticed them and nodded her head and mouthed thank you.

"Let's get out of here," Dean said and they headed for the exit.

Sam hadn't said a word since they got off the plane and Fallon nudged Dean and gave him a pointed look while tipping her head in Sam's direction. He nodded and asked, "You okay?"

Sam stopped and looked over at Dean and Fallon. "Dean, it knew about Jessica," he said quietly.

"Sam, these things, they, they read minds," Dean said trying to assure him. "They lie. All right? That's all it was."

"Yeah," Sam murmured but Fallon could tell he wasn't buying it. To be frank, she didn't either. The demon had known about Jessica. She wondered how many other demons knew. She had the sickening feeling that Jessica was just the tip of the iceberg heading their way. She remained silent to whole ride back to Jerry's office, who was there to greet them when they pulled up.

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do," he said appreciatively. "A lot of people could have been killed. Your dad's gonna be real proud."

"We'll see you around, Jerry," Sam answered shaking the man's hand.

They began to walk away when Dean turned back and called out, "You know, Jerry, I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number anyway? I've only had it for like six months."

"Your dad gave it to me," Jerry answered.

"What?" Sam asked amazed.

"When did you talk to him?" Dean inquired.

"I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number," Jerry said. "His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys."

The three hurried back to the Impala. "This doesn't make any sense, man," Sam said. "I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service." Dean dialed the number and they all listened to his voicemail. Sure enough it gave Dean's number. Sam got up and stormed to the car and slammed the door as he got in. Fallon and Dean followed.

Dean was about to drive away when he glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "You okay?" he asked concerned. "You've barely spoken a word since we got off the plane."

"I'm fine," Fallon answered. "It's just, well, we're in Pennsylvania…I was just wondering if we could make a detour."

"Detour?" Sam asked. "Where?"

Dean, however, seemed to know what she was asking. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Fallon," he replied kindly. "It won't be easy for you."

"I know," she said. "But I need some kind of closure and this seems as good a way as any."

Dean nodded his head. "All right," he agreed. "It's only an hour and a half long drive. It shouldn't be too bad."

"Thank you," Fallon replied. He nodded and began to head for Scranton.

About two hours later and they were standing in front of her grave.

**Fallon Romano May 16, 1984 June 19, 2004 To know her was to love her**

"Are you okay?" Sam asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She smiled up at him. "Yes," she answered and then laughed. "I'm just so glad they didn't use a Bible verse."

Sam blinked for a second and then burst out laughing. "You have a funny way of looking at things," he chuckled.

She shrugged. "I'm dead, Sam," she said. "I don't see things the way the living do. But that doesn't mean I can't have a sense of humor."

"Some sense of humor," Dean mumbled walking over to them. "I don't mean to cut this short, but people are headed over this way and this is your home town, Fallon. They might recognize you if they can see you."

She nodded. "I'm ready to go anyway," she said and turned away from her tombstone. Sam and her made their way back to the car, but turned around when they didn't hear Dean following them. "Dean!" He didn't look back towards her, and Fallon watched as Dean placed one single rose on top of her tombstone. She realized that's what he'd bought at the store he insisted on stopping in. He quickly caught up to them and Fallon squeezed his hand. "Thank you," she said before slipping back into the car. She looked back at her grave one more time and saw that the people Dean had pointed out. She did know them, better than she knew anybody. Her mother, her sister, and her grandmother. They must have been making the rounds.

"You know them?" Sam asked staring at her.

Fallon nodded as tears spilled down her cheeks, but she was smiling. "They're my family," she answered. Sam gave her a sad smile before facing forward again as they began to drive off. Fallon watched her family's figures grow smaller and smaller the farther they drove. "Goodbye," she whispered and left them behind.


	3. What A Bloody Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fallon and the boys stumble across a case that may be the origin story of the infamous legend of Bloody Mary. The further they get into the case the more dark secrets they uncover. Could it be Fallon has a dark secret of her own?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Happy Friday everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. I know it's been a stressful week, especially for those of us residing in the U.S. Hopefully this story is just what you need to relax. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural. All rights belong the the creators and writers of the show.

Fallon and the boys had left for Toledo, Ohio almost immediately after visiting her grave in Pennsylvania. It had been an awkward ride for her and Dean. As usual, whenever they would share a sweet moment between each other they would make up for it by avoiding each other. Since that was almost impossible to do when you were stuck in a car all day the two had been unusually critical of each other. They had argued nonstop, to the point where even Sam was sick of them and had snapped at them to shut up and give it a rest. They had backed off from attacking each other, but now were giving each other the silent treatment. Fallon hadn't said a word to Dean since they crossed over the state borders and entered Ohio.

They had just reached their destination when Fallon heard Sam moaning from the front seat. She looked over at him and realized he was having another nightmare. His eyes were clenched shut and his face was pinched. He was twisting in his seat as if he were trying to get away from something. She sighed and tapped Dean's shoulder. He looked back at her in the rearview mirror and gave her a half surprised-half annoyed look. She just tipped her head in Sam's direction and Dean nodded before pulling over. "Sam, wake up," Dean said gruffly.

Sam startled awake and looked around him, trying to get his bearings. He sighed and leaned his head back against the street. "I take it I was having a nightmare," he sighed.

"Yeah, another one," Dean replied dryly.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep," Sam shot back peevishly.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this," Dean pointed out.

"Are we here?" Sam asked changing the topic abruptly.

"Yup," Dean sighed still concerned about Sam. "Welcome to Toledo, Ohio."

As Sam picked up the newspaper to read the obituaries again Fallon said, "You know, while we're in Ohio we should visit Cleveland."

"Why?" Dean asked finally breaking the silence between them.

"Because that's where the creator of Superman lived," she answered.

"So?" he asked. "And how do you know that?"

"I know that because Superman's my favorite hero and I know everything there is to know about him. Including the people who brought him to life in the comics," Fallon replied smugly.

"What are you some kind of comic book nerd?" Dean asked.

Fallon was about to open her mouth and shoot some remark back when Sam finished reading the obits and interrupted before an argument could begin. "So what do you think really happened to this guy?" he questioned waving the paper at them.

"That's what we're gonna find out," Dean replied. "Let's go." They all got out of the car and walked into the hospital and headed towards the morgue, Fallon and Dean bickering the whole way.

"Hey," a morgue tech said when he saw them.

"Hey," Dean greeted.

"Can I help you?" the morgue tech asked.

"Yeah, we're the, uh…med students," Dean replied.

"Smooth," Fallon muttered and smirked when she saw a muscle tick in his jaw.

"Sorry?" the morgue tech questioned.

"Oh, Doctor…" Dean started to say and looked over at the name plate on the other desk in the room, "Figlavitch didn't tell you? We talked to him on the phone. He, uh, we're from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper."

"Well, I'm sorry," the morgue tech replied. "He's at lunch."

"Oh well he said, uh…oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter," Dean stumbled. "You don't mind showing us the body, do you?"

"Sorry, I can't," the morgue tech said not sounding very sorry at all. "Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him if you want."

"An hour?" Dean said. "We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then. Look man, this paper's like half our grade, so if you don't mind helping us out…"

"Uh, look, man….no," the morgue tech replied meanly.

Dean laughed and turned around towards Sam and muttered, "I'm gonna hit him in his face I swear."

"Oh yeah cuz that's gonna get you what you want," Fallon said while Sam hit him on the arm and pulled out his wallet and handed about one hundred dollars to the morgue tech.

The tech looked down at the money before pocketing it. "Follow me," he said and got out from behind the desk.

"Dude, I earned that money," Dean said annoyed.

"You won it in a poker game," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah," Dean exclaimed.

"So it doesn't count," Fallon replied and phased through the wall into the room where the body was. "Ugh! That's so gross."

Sam nodded his head in agreement before turning towards the morgue tech. "Now the newspaper said his daughter found him," he said. "She said his eyes were bleeding."

"More than that," the tech replied. "They practically liquefied."

"Any sign of a struggle?" Dean inquired. "Maybe somebody did it to him?"

"Nope," the tech said. "Besides the daughter, he was all alone."

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Ah, Doc's not sure," the morgue tech replied. "He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure."

"I'd say," Fallon said a little weakly. "It looks like a grenade went off inside his head."

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned.

"Intense cerebral bleeding," the tech responded. "This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."

"The eyes and mash, what would cause something like that?" Sam asked.

"Capillaries can burst," the tech said. "See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."

"That was no stroke," Fallon replied. "This guy definitely did not die from anything natural."

Dean seemed to agree with her and asked, "Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?"

The morgue tech shook his head. "That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor," he replied.

Dean nodded but didn't buy it. "Hey, think we could take a look at that police report?" he asked. "You know for, uh…our paper?"

"I'm not really supposed to show you that," the tech said and Sam pulled out more twenties. "But I suppose just this once it wouldn't hurt."

After they had looked over the report they left the hospital and headed back to the Impala. "Might not be one of ours," Sam said. "Might just be some freak medical thing."

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asked.

"Uh, almost never," Sam replied.

"Exactly," Dean said.

"Yeah, I'm backing Dean up on this one," Fallon said and ignored the surprised looks she got from both brothers. "That was definitely not some freak medical thing. That was…freaky. The supernatural kind of freaky."

"All right," Sam sighed giving in. "Let's go talk to the daughter." They made their way to the Shoemaker home and walked into the funeral that was still going on. Everyone there was in black and formal clothes, but Sam and Dean were in their usual street clothes. Fallon felt uncomfortable herself in her own red blazer, even though no one could see her.

"Feel like we're underdressed," Dean muttered trying to not bring attention to themselves.

"Just act like you fit in and no one should say anything," Fallon advised and the three headed towards the backyard where the daughter of the deceased was.

"You must be Donna, right?" Sam asked as they approached a dark haired girl another guest had pointed them to.

"Yeah," Donna replied nodding her head. Fallon felt awful for her. The poor girl looked shell shocked and she looked barely over twenty.

"Hi, uh… we're really sorry," Sam said a tad dumbly.

"Thank you," Donna replied.

"I'm Sam, this is Dean. We worked with your dad," Sam said.

"You did?" Donna asked surprised.

"Yeah," Dean replied. "This whole thing, I mean, a stroke."

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now," one of Donna's friends said. Fallon looked over at the girl surprised. The girl looked suspicious of them and Fallon had the gut feeling that she was going to be a problem. On the other hand she had to give the girl some props; she certainly was intuitive if she wasn't buying into their cover.

"It's okay. I'm okay," Donna assured her.

Fallon could see that she really wasn't but Dean continued to ask questions. "Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" he questioned.

"No," Donna replied shaking her head.

A little girl turned around then and said tearfully, "That's because it wasn't a stroke."

"Lily, don't say that," Donna said.

"What?" Sam asked confused.

"I'm sorry she's just upset," Donna replied.

"No, it happened because of me," Lily cried choking back tears. Fallon felt a stab of pain in her heart. She knew what it felt like to blame yourself for someone else's death. It was a lot of guilt to have on your shoulders and Lily only looked to be about twelve.

"Sweetie, it didn't," Donna assured her.

"Lily," Sam said gently kneeling down in front of her. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Right before he died, I said it," Lily answered.

"You said what?" Sam asked.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror," Lily replied. "She took his eyes, that's what she does."

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault," Donna exclaimed.

"I think your sister's right, Lily," Dean said. "There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?"

"No, I don't think so," Lily replied tearfully.

"Exactly, Lily it wasn't your fault," Donna said.

"We better be going," Sam said. "We're so sorry for your loss."

"That poor girl," Fallon said softly as they headed back into the house. "I hope they can convince her this wasn't her fault. She's too young to have that on her shoulders."

"I agree, but she gave us the answer we were looking for," Dean replied and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

Fallon snorted. "Bloody Mary?" she scoffed. "You can't tell me you actually think she's real?"

Dean looked over his shoulder at her an amused look on his face. "You don't?" he asked.

"Of course not!" Fallon replied. "It's just a game. The kids in my school used to play it in the hot lunch room bathroom all the time. Nothing ever happened."

"Did you ever play the game?" Sam asked from behind her.

Fallon nodded. "My friend Lissie and I played it one time," she said.

"And nothing happened?" Dean asked checking doors to find the bathroom.

Fallon shrugged and smiled a little sheepishly. "I kind of chickened out and flipped on the lights the second we said it," she replied. "But nothing would have happened anyway. As I said it's just a game." Just then they found the bathroom. There was still some blood on the floor. "Of course, she's looking like a pretty good suspect here."

Sam nodded his head. "The Bloody Mary legend… Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked Dean.

"Not that I know of," Dean replied.

"Fallon's right in a way. I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it," Sam said.

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening," Dean replied.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam asked, but Dean just shrugged. "But according to the legend, the person who says B…" he broke off as he noticed the mirror and then continued, "The person who says you know what gets it. But here…"

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah," Dean said.

"Which makes no sense," Fallon replied.

"Never heard anything like that before," Dean agreed. "Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."

"It's worth checking into," Sam said.

"I agree," Fallon replied. "But can we stop with the you know who crap? I keep thinking Voldemort's about to jump out from behind some corner."

"You want Bl... you know who popping up in your mirror?" Dean inquired teasingly.

"No," Fallon replied. "But this you know who nonsense is ridiculous. 'Fear of the name increases the fear of the thing itself.'"

"Oh God, first you're a comic book nerd and now you're a Harry Potter nerd too?" Dean groaned. "We should just tattoo the word geek to your forehead."

"Hilarious," Fallon snapped and stormed out of the bathroom but froze in the hall when she saw Donna's friend outside of the bathroom. Dean and Sam stopped at a halt right behind her.

"What are you doing up here?" the friend asked.

"We- we had to go to the bathroom," Dean said.

"Together?" Fallon replied. "Bad excuse."

"Who are you?" the friend asked suspiciously.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad," Dean replied.

"He was a day trader or something," the friend said. "He worked by himself."

"No, I know, I meant…" Dean started but the girl didn't let him finish.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that?" she inquired. "So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming."

"Wow, talk about pushy," Fallon muttered sarcastically and leaned against the wall. "Better spill boys, I think she's serious."

"All right, all right," Sam replied. "We think something happened to Donna's dad."

"Yeah, a stroke," the friend said sarcastically.

"That's not the sign of a typical stroke," Sam disagreed. "We think it might be something else."

"Like what?" the girl asked.

"Honestly? We don't know yet," Sam told her. "But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth."

"So if you're gonna scream, go right ahead," Dean dared.

The girl gave them a funny look. "Who are you, cops?" she asked.

"Something like that," Dean replied.

"I'll tell you what, here," Sam said pulling a pen and paper out of his pocket and writing down his number for her. "If you think of anything, you or our friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary… just give us a call."

"I hope she doesn't become a problem," Fallon sighed as they stepped out of the Shoemaker house.

"Yeah, me too," Dean agreed. "I'm going to be seriously pissed if she screws with this investigation."

"Speaking of investigation," Sam said. "I think it's time to start doing research."

"To the library?" Fallon asked.

"To the library," Sam agreed and they hopped into the Impala and drove to the town's library.

"All right, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town," Dean said as they walked past shelves of books. "There's gonna be some sort of proof…like a local woman who died nasty."

"Yeah, but a legend this widespread it's hard," Sam pointed out. "I mean, there's like fifty versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more."

"There's two different stories in my hometown," Fallon agreed. "One where she died in a car accident and another where she was buried alive when her family thought she'd died from an illness. And once I heard a story about it being Queen Elizabeth's sister Mary."

"All right so what are we supposed to do?" Dean asked sounding a little overwhelmed.

"Every version's got a few things in common," Sam explained. "It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers, public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."

"Well that sounds annoying," Dean replied.

"No it won't be that bad as long as we…" Sam cut off when they reached the section of the library that held the computers and saw they were all out of order. "I take it back. This will be very annoying."

"I nominate Dean as your research partner," Fallon said quickly before popping back to the Impala before Dean could protest.

Later that day the three were back in the motel room. They'd been researching for hours. Fallon had lost count of how many obituary and newspaper articles she'd read through, and some of them had been from pretty far back. "Did you find anything, Fallon?" Dean asked wearily from the seat he sat at by the table.

She shook her head. "Nothing," she replied. "The only Mary's I've come across who have all died perfectly natural deaths except for one, but she did not die in front of a mirror. I've found some deaths that did involve a mirror but the victims aren't named Mary. What about you? You find anything?"

"No," he sighed. "Nothing useful so far. How bout you Sammy?" Sam didn't respond and they both looked over at the bed to see him sound asleep. "Looks like he finally crashed."

"Good he needs sleep badly," Fallon said. "You have to talk to him, Dean. He's not handling Jessica's death well."

"She was his girlfriend. He's grieving it's normal," Dean argued.

"I didn't say it wasn't normal it absolutely is," Fallon pushed. "I said he wasn't coping well. He needs you."

"You're his new best friend, why don't you talk to him?" Dean asked.

Fallon sighed. "Because I'm not the one he needs," she replied softly. Dean looked over at her and she turned back to her research and they both pointedly ignored the awkwardness that was left between them.

Fallon looked up when Sam suddenly startled awake. "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" he asked weakly.

"Cause I'm an awesome brother," Dean replied tiredly. "So what did you dream about?"

"Lollipops and candy canes," Sam snapped sarcastically.

"That would make me wake up in terror too," Fallon quipped. "Candy land was always such a creepy game." Sam smiled weakly at her.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"Oh besides a whole new level of frustration?" Dean replied. "No. I've looked at everything. Fallon has too. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but uh, no Mary."

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet," Sam sighed flopping back on the bed.

"Maybe that's because she doesn't exist," Fallon muttered tossing an old obituary page across the room.

"I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know…eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing," Dean said. "Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary."

"It's weird when you two agree on things," Sam sighed and then his cellphone began to ring. "Hello?" he answered it. "All right we'll be right there."

"Who was that?" Dean asked.

"Charlie," Sam answered. "The girl who accosted us at the Shoemaker home."

"Why did she call?" Fallon asked surprised.

"I don't know, but she sounded upset," Sam said.

"Let's go," Dean replied and they all got up and headed for the Impala and Charlie.

They found her at the park and got her to tell them what happened. "And they found her on the bathroom floor," Charlie cried. "And her eyes…her eyes. They were gone."

"I'm sorry," Sam said softly.

"And she said it," Charlie added. "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"

"No, you're not insane," Dean tried to reassure her.

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse," Charlie said.

"Yeah, it's kind of a nasty shock finding out ghosts are real," Fallon agreed. "Of course it's an even nastier shock when you figure out you are a ghost, but hey, what are you going to do about it?" Dean smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Look, we think something's happening here," Sam said. "Something that can't be explained."

"And we're gonna stop it, but we could use your help," Dean added.

Charlie nodded her head slowly. "All right," she whispered. "What do you need me to do?"

"We need you to get us into your friend's bathroom," Sam said.

"What? Why?" Charlie asked.

"To look for clues," Dean answered.

"Okay," Charlie agreed. "Follow me." They followed Charlie to her friend's home and Fallon followed Charlie inside while the boys climbed up the house to the window Charlie had directed them to. Charlie immediately went to Jill's room and opened the window to let the boys in.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asked.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie sighed as Sam started fussing with the bag they'd brought. "I hate lying to her."

"Trust us, this is for the greater good," Dean said pulling the curtains shut. "Hit the lights."

Charlie nodded and flicked off the lights. "What are you guys looking for?" she asked curiously.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it," Dean told her.

Fallon rolled her eyes. "Don't try to be so mysterious," she muttered. "Ghosts leave evidence behind just like people. Jill's death should be like any other murder scene; you just have to know what to look for."

Sam shook his head in amusement as he switched on some digital camera that let him see the room more clearly in the dark. "Hey, night vision," Sam said. "Perfect."

Dean looked over at the camera. "Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean asked cheekily.

"You act like her," Fallon quipped and smiled brightly when he glared at her.

"So I don't get it," Sam said looking through Jill's closet mirror. "I mean, the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?"

"Beats me," Dean shrugged.

"There must be some part of the legend that no one knows about," Fallon replied. "Some piece that's missing from all the stories. Or, you know, this isn't Bloody Mary."

Dean shot her a look and inclined his head to the mirror. She scoffed but didn't say anything more. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place," Dean said.

"It's just a joke," Charlie replied.

"Yeah well somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time," Dean said.

"Hey," Sam called from the bathroom. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it," Dean said and climbed back out the window.

Fallon walked into the bathroom with Sam. "I guess you found something?" she asked. Sam inclined his head at the mirror and she saw something trickling the back of the mirror. "Huh."

"I gotta take this mirror down," Sam muttered.

"Do you need help?" Charlie asked from the doorway.

"I got it," Sam replied and went to work. He had just carried it into the bedroom when Dean climbed back in through the window and tossed him the black light. Fallon watched as Sam peeled the paper on the back of the mirror off and shined the light over it. She shivered when she saw a handprint and the name "Gary Bryman" stained on the back of it.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie asked confused.

"You know who that is?" Sam inquired.

"No," Charlie replied shaking her head.

"Guess we better figure it out then," Dean sighed and flicked the light on.

"Alright, I'll head to the library and look through the obituaries again," Sam said. "Do you want to meet me at the park?"

"Sure," Dean agreed.

"I'm coming too," Charlie said quickly.

"Look, I know Jill was your friend, but this could be dangerous," Dean said.

"I don't care I'm coming," Charlie replied stubbornly.

"Oh let her come," Fallon put in. "She might be of more help later."

"Fine," Dean said. "But if things get sticky then you go home."

"Deal," Charlie agreed and slipped back downstairs.

"I'll head with you to the library," Fallon told Sam before following Charlie down the stairs. A little while later her and Sam had arrived at the library and were, once again, digging through the obits. "Hey I found him!" she called over to Sam who hurried over to her. "It was a hit and run."

"That's horrible," Sam said skimming through the newspaper article. Fallon nodded her head but didn't say anything. Sam looked over at her looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Fallon replied. "I just don't like where this is going. C'mon let's get back to Dean and Charlie." A few minutes later and they arrived back at the park where they met up with Dean and Charlie.

"So, Gary Bryman was an eight year old boy," Sam said. "Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver."

"Oh my God," Charlie murmured.

"What?" Sam asked concerned.

"Jill drove that car," Charlie told them.

"So she hit that kid and then just took off," Fallon said quietly. She felt her face twist into a look of utter disgust. "What a bitch! She deserved what she got." Dean and Sam looked over at her shocked. She stared directly back at him. "He was eight. How do you plow down some kid and just leave?"

Sam looked like he was about to say something when Dean interrupted and turned towards Charlie. "We need to get back to your friend Donna's house," he said abruptly. Fallon looked away from him and popped into the backseat of the Impala. No one said a word as they made their way to the Shoemaker house. Fallon understood why the boys had looked so concerned at her outburst. Any sign of anger or strong emotion convinced them that she would become a vengeful spirit, especially Dean. But Fallon couldn't help but feel angered over the boy's death. Gary had only been eight and Charlie's rotten friend had left him to die alone. Surely the boys had to understand why that would upset her.

When they reached the Shoemaker house Dean turned around in the backseat to speak to Charlie. "You know she probably isn't going to believe us right?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "I know but she has to know," she said.

"Alright then," Sam said and they all got out of the car and walked into the house. Fallon phased through the door before Donna even opened it went straight to the mirror Mr. Shoemaker died in front of and took it off the wall and flipped it over. Shortly after Dean and Sam came rushing into the bathroom.

"Did she believe you?" Fallon asked as Dean took out the black light.

"No," Sam replied. "Charlie's trying to reason with her so we barged upstairs."

"We've got a name," Dean said holding the black light over the back of the mirror. Fallon raised her eyebrows and Dean whistled.

"Linda Shoemaker," Sam said quietly.

"Guess everyone's got their skeletons," Dean muttered before they all rushed downstairs. "Linda Shoemaker; is she your mom?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna asked clearly distressed.

Sam interceded. "Look we're sorry, but it's important," he said trying to calm her down.

"Yeah," Donna sighed. "Linda's my mom, okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident and that's it. I think you should leave."

"Now Donna, just listen…" Dean started to say but Donna was having none of it.

"Get out of my house!" she cried before running up the stairs.

Charlie watched her go before turning to Sam and Dean. "Oh my God. Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom?" she asked incredulously.

"Maybe," Sam replied.

"Oh there's no maybe about," Fallon said sharply. Once again Sam and Dean turned to look at her with surprise. She looked back at them but didn't say anything else. She knew what they'd think if she told them that she thought Jill and Mr. Shoemaker had gotten what they deserved. They'd accuse her of becoming a vengeful spirit, and maybe she was vengeful, but not in the way they thought.

"I think I should stick around," Charlie said looking up the stairs again.

"Alright but whatever you do don't…" Dean warned.

"Believe me," Charlie interrupted him. "I won't say it."

"Alright, so what now?" Fallon asked as they drove away from the Shoemaker's home.

"We need to get to a computer," Sam said. "We need to look at more records and look for any suspicious deaths. Maybe we can find Mary that way, by figuring out her next target."

"Alright," Dean said. "I guess it's back to the library."

"I haven't spent this much time in a library since my college days," Fallon muttered as Dean parked the car.

"You say that as if those days were that long ago," Dean replied.

"Time drags when you're dead," Fallon snapped back.

"Guys," Sam said. "Can we please not do this right now?"

Fallon and Dean looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess," Fallon replied as they pulled out old records and started fiddling with the computers. Sam and Fallon were busy looking over a bulletin while Dean was glancing at a computer.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam asked glancing ta Dean's computer screen.

"Yep," Dean answered. "The NCIC, the FBI database-at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me."

"But if she's haunting this town, she should have died in the town," Sam argued.

"That's usually the case but if she's not attached to her body whatever object she's attached to can move from place to place," Fallon pointed out.

"I agree," Dean said quickly. "I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked. So has Fallon. So unless you got a better idea…"

"The way Mary's choosing her victims," Sam murmured, "it seems like there's a pattern."

"I know," Dean said. "I was thinking the SAME thing."

"With Mr. Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run," Sam started.

"Both had secrets where people died," Dean finished.

"Good thing they weren't running for office," Fallon muttered under her breath but the boys didn't hear her.

"Right," Sam agreed with Dean. "I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors, that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them."

"Right, right. SO maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it, and punishes you for it," Dean said.

"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not," Sam added.

"Great so we have a ghost that likes to play god," Fallon said. "We still have no idea who she is."

"Maybe we do now," Dean replied. "Take a look at this." Fallon and Sam walked over to the computer and saw a woman lying in blood by a mirror.

"Looks like the same hand print," Sam muttered looking at the bloody handprint on the mirror.

"Her name was Mary Worthington… an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana," Dean said.

"I guess we better get back on the road," Fallon said and teleported to the car.

"Is that necessary?" Dean asked a minute later when he and Sam came out of the library.

She shrugged. "Just convenient," she answered and Dean sighed as they headed for Fort Wayne's police station. "So do you have a plan?"

"What do you mean do we have a plan?" Dean asked. "We'll do what we always do."

"I mean that this is an old case," Fallon pointed out. "A cold case. You'll need to look for an older policeman who could have been on the case. Maybe even headed the case. If you talk to anyone else they won't know enough details."

"Good thinking," Sam said as they pulled up to the station.

"Yeah great," Dean muttered. "Let's go find our guy." The three piled into the station and began looking around.

"That's our guy," Sam said suddenly nodding his head towards an older policeman that was walking into a back office.

"Let's go boys," Fallon said and they made their way to his office.

"Excuse us, Detective?" Sam said.

The detective looked up from his desk. "Can I help you boys?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're reporters for one of the local newspapers," Dean replied. "We were sent here to get information for an article."

"What kind of information?" the detective asked.

"Information on the Mary Worthington case," Sam said. "We've already interviewed her family and friends, but now we need the police reports."

The detective sighed and stood up and came around the side of his desk. "I was on the job for thirty-five years, detective for most of that," he began. "Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder… that one still gets me."

"What exactly happened?" Dean pushed.

The detective gave him a questioning look. "You boys said you were reporters?"

"We know Mary was nineteen, lived by herself," Sam covered. "We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife."

"That's right," the detective said.

"See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened," Sam prompted.

"Good work, Sam," Fallon said as the detective pulled some old files out of his desk.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to have a copy of this," the detective said opening the files for them to look at. "Now see that there? T-R-E?"

"Yeah," Dean said.

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer," the detective told them.

"You know who it was?" Sam asked.

"Not for sure," the detective responded. "But there was a local man, a surgeon, Trevor Sampson and I think he cut her up good."

"Now why would he do something like that?" Sam questioned.

"Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing," the detective replied. "She called him by his initial "T"". Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell "T's" wife about the affair."

"Yeah but how do you know it was Sampson that killed her?" Dean asked.

"It's hard to say," The detective responded, "but the way her eyes were cut out…it was almost professional."

"Sort of like a Jack the Ripper kind of thing," Fallon said. "It was highly speculated that he was in the medical profession because of his knowledge of the human anatomy. I'm thinking Sampson's a viable suspect here."

"But you could never prove it?" Dean said.

"No," the detective replied. "No prints. No witnesses. He was meticulous."

"Is he still alive?" Dean questioned.

"Nope," the detective answered. "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could."

"Still a valiant effort," Fallon said. "Not many people would have thought to try and do that." Dean nodded his head in agreement.

"Where's she buried?" Sam asked pretending to sound curious.

"She wasn't. She was cremated," the detective told him.

"What about that mirror?" Dean asked. "It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere is it?"

"Ah, no," the detective replied. "It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago."

"Thank you for the information," Sam said. "You have a good day."

"Alright, so I guess we have to find Mary's family," Dean said as they walked out of the station.

"Oh, I got you covered with that," Fallon said.

"You have the names?" Sam asked.

She nodded. "I dug further into those files while you were questioning the detective. I have names, addresses, and phone numbers."

"You are brilliant," Dean said and then blinked quickly while Fallon stared at him in shock. "I meant good work."

"No you didn't," Fallon teased. "You totally think I'm awesome."

"Oh, yeah sure," Dean replied slipping into the the driver's seat.

"This is going to be a long trip," Sam sighed.

"Long or not we need to get a move on with that list," Dean said. "Who do you plan on calling first?"

"Try the brother," Fallon offered. "He'd probably be most willing to talk."

"Will do," Sam said and quickly dialed the brother's number into his cell. After a few minutes he said, "Oh really? Ah that's too bad Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. All right. Thanks."

"So?" Dean asked.

"So Mary's brother was the right way to go," Sam replied. "The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques. A store in Toledo."

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" Dean speculated.

"Her spirits definitely tied up with it somehow," Sam agreed.

"Isn't there an old superstition that says mirrors can capture spirits?" Dean asked.

"What like some kind of ghost prison?" Fallon questioned. "I've been around tons of mirrors and I haven't got stuck in one. Is there actually a superstition like that?"

"Yeah there is," Sam answered them both. "Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped. You didn't die in a house, Fallon, so mirrors mean nothing to you."

"So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit," Dean added.

"Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" Sam questioned.

"Maybe it works like some kind of portal?" Fallon speculated.

"I don't know but if the mirror is the source I say we find it and smash it," Dean said firmly.

"Yeah I don't know, maybe," Sam replied as his cell began to ring. "Hello. Charlie? Hey hold on, we'll be right there. Don't look at any reflections"

"What happened?" Fallon asked as Sam hung up.

"We've found the next victim," Sam said quietly as Dean stepped on the gas. They found Charlie in hysterics at the park. "Charlie, hey, it's us."

"Come on," Dean ordered, "we'll take you back to our hotel room. Just keep your eyes closed."

"We'll lead the way," Fallon added.

Charlie's head shot up. "Who was that?" she asked panicking looking around.

Sam looked at Fallon in surprised who looked just as shocked as Charlie. "Who was what?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I heard a voice," Charlie replied. "A girl's voice. Oh god it's Mary she's found me!"

"Hey," Dean said grabbing onto the girl's shoulders before she could run off. "That's not Mary that's Fallon."

"Who?" Charlie asked.

"Fallon," Sam told her. "She's another ghost, but she's not here to hurt you. She's actually here to help."

"She's been here the whole time," Dean added.

"Most people can't see or hear me," Fallon said. "Can you see me?"

Charlie slowly turned her head in her direction. "No," she replied shaking her head. "No I can't see you."

"Interesting," Fallon murmured before saying more loudly. "Alright, we need to get you some place safer. Close your eyes. Sam will lead you to the car."

"Okay," Charlie agreed and closed her eyes before taking Sam's arm and they quickly headed to the hotel room where Fallon, Dean, and Sam hurried to cover all the reflective surfaces while Charlie kept her face pressed to her knees.

"When they finished what they were doing Sam sat next to her and tried to comfort her. "Hey, hey it's okay," he said. "Hey, you can open your eyes Charlie. It's okay all right?" Charlie slowly looked up. "Now listen, you're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you."

"But I can't keep that up forever," Charlie cried. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"No. No," Sam assured her. "Not anytime soon."

Dean sat on the bed then too and said, "All right, Charlie," he cut in briskly and Fallon rolled her eyes at him. "We need to know what happened."

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it," Charlie began but Dean cut her off.

"That's not what we're talking about," Dean said abruptly. "Something happened, didn't it? In your life… a secret where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?"

"I had this boyfriend," Charlie began closing her eyes. "I loved him, but he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said 'Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself.' And you know what I said? I said go ahead. And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just… I didn't believe him, you know? I should have."

"That's not your fault Charlie," Fallon said softly. "You couldn't possibly have known he would do that."

"No, but that doesn't mean anything to Mary," Dean said. "We need to smash that mirror."

Sam nodded. "Alright," he agreed. "Charlie just stay here."

"I'll stay with her," Fallon told them and Charlie looked over at her. "You probably shouldn't be alone right now."

Dean looked over at Charlie. "Are you okay with her staying?" he asked.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "She can stay."

"Alright," Dean replied. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Try not to get yourselves killed," Fallon said sitting down on the bed next to Charlie.

"Try to sound a little more concerned," Dean snapped back before walking out the door of the hotel room.

"Really?" Sam called after him before following him out.

Fallon stayed in the hotel room beside Charlie and let her cry it out for a bit before she said gently, "It really wasn't your fault Charlie. You couldn't have stopped it. He would have done it anyway even if you had stayed. Maybe you would have bought him some more time, but eventually he would have done it anyway. People who want out of life don't stick around for other people."

"I know," Charlie said. "Deep down I know that, but I… you don't know what it feels like to feel responsible for someone else's death."

Fallon smiled wryly. "Don't I?" she asked quizzically. "Because I think I know exactly how you feel."

Charlie stared in front of her quietly before asking, "How did you die Fallon?"

"I was shot point blank in the back," Fallon replied bluntly. "Jealous ex-boyfriend."

"I'm sorry," Charlie said. "That's so horrible."

Fallon nodded and then started spilling the secret she'd been holding back from Sam and Dean. "I don't blame him for doing it though. I led him on. I deserved what I got. I should have been honest with him, then maybe we'd both be alive right now."

"You don't really think that?" Charlie asked horrified.

"I do," Fallon answered. "I just needed a rebound. That's all he was to me. You see I had been in love with a boy named Mason. We were together all through freshman year in high school. He was my first love and I gave him everything and he cheated on me. I never thought I'd want to be with anyone ever again but then Evan transferred to my school and his locker was right next to mine. He was cute and funny and he made me feel good so I decided to give him a try.

"And it worked for a while. I even began to feel like I loved him, but then he began to change. He got really possessive and jealous, for no apparent reason. I mean if I talked to any other guy, like just to ask for notes, he'd freak out and accuse me of cheating or wanting to be with another guy. He started to scare me, and I began to realize that I really didn't love him. I wasn't even really interested in him that way, I was just using him to get over Mason who I was still in love with.

"So I broke up with him and did eventually get back with Mason. I expected him to freak out but he didn't. He took it really well and said he still wanted to be friends. I agreed because I thought I owed him that much and I still liked him, I just didn't love him. But it became apparent that he never got over it. I knew that but I continued to lead him on by staying friends with him, even flirting with him. I made it seem like he had a chance so it is my fault that he killed me. It's my fault that I died, and even worse, it's my fault that he killed himself. I can forgive myself for what I did to myself, but I can never forgive myself for what I did to him."

"Fallon," Charlie said, "none of that was your fault. You couldn't have known… but nothing I say will make a difference will it?"

Fallon looked over at Charlie. "No," she replied gently. "Just like I'll never be able to convince you that what happened to your boyfriend is not your fault." Charlie nodded her head but didn't reply. They sat quietly together until Sam and Dean got back a few hours later.

"Well you don't have to worry about Mary anymore," Dean said cheerfully walking into the room.

"You got her?" Fallon asked woodenly.

Dean looked over at her and gave her a funny look. "Of course we did," he replied. "What's wrong with you? Did something happen."

"No, nothing," Fallon answered and walked over to Sam who was standing at the door.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Dean said.

Fallon opened her mouth to respond but Charlie beat her to it. "Nothing happened," she told Dean getting up off the bed. "It's just been a really long night."

"You can say that again," Dean replied seeming to accept the answer now that Charlie had backed her up.

"Just give us ten minutes to pack and then we'll take you home," Sam said beginning to toss his clothes into his bag.

"Sure," Charlie said and stepped out of the room. Fallon watched the boys pack before they all hopped into the Impala and drove to Charlie's home.

"So this is really over?" Charlie asked as they pulled up to her house.

"Yeah, it's over," Dean assured her.

"Thank you," Charlie said and then got out of the car.

"Charlie?" Sam called her back. "Your boyfriend's death…you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." Charlie gave him a small smile before heading towards the house. Fallon knew it wasn't as easy as Sam made it sound.

"That's good advice," Dean said punching Sam lightly on the shoulder. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is," Dean replied.

"What secret?" Fallon asked.

"Whatever secret that caught Mary's attention when he summoned her," Dean told her.

Sam sighed. "Look, you're my brother and I'd die for you, and you're my best friend and I'd do anything for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself," Sam said before turning to look out the window.

Fallon looked at him in surprise for a few seconds before deciding to drop the subject. Instead she leaned forward and asked Dean, "So, how 'bout that trip to Cleveland?"

"You're kidding me right?" Dean replied. "You can't be serious."

"Oh come on! Why can't we go?" Fallon shot back.

"Because I said so," Dean told her.

"That's not a reason," Fallon pointed out and the two quickly got into it, but the more she fought with Dean the better she felt. When she fought with him she forgot for just a few minutes that she was the person to blame for two deaths that she was the reason she couldn't move on.


	4. Changing Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one of Sam's friends is accused of murder Fallon and the boy's go down to help. As it becomes clear they've stumbled upon a case the stakes rise when they discover the villain can wear many different faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Here is another chapter up! I hope you enjoy and if you have time please leave a review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. All rights belong to the creators and writers of the show.

Fallon was lying lazily on the hood of the car while Dean was coming back outside after paying for gas and Sam was busy toying around on his phone. As Dean approached the car Fallon heard him say, "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." Fallon looked over at him and saw him frown in frustration when Sam didn't answer. Fallon looked at Sam in surprise. He wasn't usually this engrossed with his phone, it was almost amusing. Dean didn't seem to think so. "Sam wears women's underwear."

Smiling Fallon added, "Pink and lacy women's underwear." Dean shot her a smile.

"I've been listening, I'm just busy," Sam sighed giving them both a half-amused half- annoyed look.

"Busy doing what?" Dean asked as he began to fill the car with gas.

"Reading emails," Sam replied distractedly. Fallon raised her eyebrows and sidled over to Sam's side and peeked over his shoulder at the screen of his phone.

"Emails from who?" Dean questioned looking as surprised as Fallon felt.

"From my friends at Stanford," Sam replied finally looking up at Fallon and Dean.

"You're kidding," Dean said. "You still keep in touch with your college buddies?"

"You actually had college buddies?" Fallon teased.

Sam gave her a look. "I thought you usually picked on Dean?" he said.

"Dean's my specialty but I'll pick on anyone who gives me an opening," Fallon replied before flashing a brilliant smile.

Sam rolled his eyes affectionately at her. "You're hilarious," he said dryly before turning to Dean. "Why shouldn't I keep in contact with them?"

"Well what exactly do you tell them?" Dean asked. "You know, about where you've been, what you've been doing?"

"I tell them I'm on a road trip with my big brother," Sam replied. "I tell them I needed time off after Jess."

"Oh, so you lie to them," Dean answered placing the gas nuzzle back in place.

"No," Sam disagreed. "I just don't tell them… everything."

"Yeah, that's called lying," Dean pointed out. "I mean, hey, I get it. Telling the truth is far worse."

"In this case it is," Fallon muttered.

"So what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Sam asked and then looked shocked when Dean and Fallon gave him a pointed look. "You're serious?"

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people period," Dean said matter of factly.

Fallon nodded her head in agreement. "I could have spent this whole time I've been dead keeping track of my family, only it was too painful," Fallon told him. "It hurt too much to watch them grieve and then it hurt too much to watch them move on and leave me behind. Sometimes it's best to let people go."

"You two are kind of anti-social, you know that?" Sam asked annoyed.

"Yeah, whatever," Dean replied and got back in the car. Fallon just shrugged and slid in behind Dean.

Sam continued to read his emails as he buckled. "God…" He murmured and Fallon looked up to see the concerned look on his face.

"What?" Dean asked gruffly.

"In this email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine," Sam said.

"Is she hot?" Dean asked interested.

"You're a pig," Fallon said.

"I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack," Sam continued. "She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case."

"Wow great friends Sam," Fallon replied.

Dean apparently agreed with her. "Dude, what kind of people are you hanging out with?" he asked.

"No, man, I know Zack. He's no killer," Sam answered.

"That's what I thought about Evan, but we all know what happened there," Fallon pointed out.

"Maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you," Dean added.

"They're in St. Louis," Sam said firmly. "We're going."

Dean laughed. "Look, sorry about your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem," Dean told him.

"It is our problem. They're my friends," Sam replied.

"Well, that just makes it your problem," Fallon muttered and ducked her head when Sam sent her an icy look.

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam," Dean complained, but Sam sent him the same glare and before they knew it they were on their way to Sam's friends.

"So this is St. Louis," Fallon said looking out the window hours later.

"Never been?" Dean asked.

"No," Fallon said. "I never saw the Midwestern part of the United States until I started tagging you boys."

Dean chuckled. "Stalking us you mean," he replied. Fallon scowled at him and gave the back of his seat a hard kick, but Dean just laughed.

"Could you two please give it a rest," Sam sighed. "You're constantly picking on each other."

"We're just teasing each other," Fallon said.

"No harms being done, Sam," Dean agreed.

"Not yet but sometime soon someone's going to say something and somebody's going to get hurt," Sam replied and then looked out his window. "It's that house right there."

Dean whistled. "Nice house," he said parking at the curb.

"Yeah, it's none too shabby," Fallon agreed as the three made their way up the walk.

Not long after they knocked on the door Sam's friend Rebecca answered. "Oh my God, Sam!" she cried happily.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky," Sam teased.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap," Rebecca scolded and then they hugged.

"I got your email," Sam told her.

Rebecca stepped back and answered while looking over at Dean. "I didn't think you would come here," she said.

Dean extended his hand for her to shake. "Dean. Older brother," he greeted.

"Hi," Rebecca said.

"Hi," Dean replied.

"Hi," Fallon muttered. "Fallon, ghost that's currently stalking them." She smiled when Dean's face tensed, expressing his annoyance with her. She got a sick pleasure out of it.

"We're here to help," Sam said ignoring both of them. "Whatever we can do."

"Come in," Rebecca said stepping back to let them enter.

"Nice place," Dean said.

"It's my parents'," Rebecca replied. "I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free."

"Well, don't throw your life away for your brother's mistake," Fallon muttered. Dean and Sam both gave her a look. "What?"

Sam shook his head and turned back to Rebecca. "Where are your folks?" he asked.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial. Do you guys want a beer or something?" she offered as they entered the kitchen.

Dean was about to accept when Sam cut him off. "No, thanks. So tell us what happened," he encouraged.

"Well, um, Zack came home and found Emily tied to a chair," Rebecca told them. "And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing. So, he called 911, and the police-they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time." She paused to wipe her eyes. "The police… they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight."

"Well, that's…bizarre," Fallon said. "Maybe your friend isn't some psycho Sam."

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house," Sam said.

"We could," Dean agreed.

"Why?" Rebecca asked. "I mean, what could you do?"

"Well, me not much," Sam replied. "But Dean's a cop."

"Detective, actually," Dean stated importantly.

Fallon scoffed. "Yeah you're a real Sherlock," she said but then regretted it when she saw a look of hurt flicker across Dean's face before being replaced with one of annoyance.

"Really?" Rebecca asked hopefully. "Where?"

"Bisbee, Arizona, but I'm off duty now," Dean answered.

Rebecca thought about it for a moment but then sighed. "You guys, it's so nice of you to offer, but I just…I don't know," she replied.

"Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this," Sam pushed. "Now, we have to find a way to prove he's innocent."

Rebecca hesitated for a few more seconds before finally agreeing. "Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys," she said and got up to go find them.

Dean waited until she was out of ear shot before looking and Sam and saying, "Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends."

"Look, Zack and Becky need our help," Sam insisted.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem," Dean argued.

"I hate to agree with Dean on principle, but I think he's right Sam," Fallon agreed.

Sam wouldn't back down. "Two places at once?" he pressured. "We've looked into a lot less."

"But we've never been personally attached to the case before," Fallon stated. "Becky could easily be covering for her brother. And no one wants to believe their friend is capable of murder."

"But I know Zach," Sam said. "He wouldn't do this."

Dean sighed. "Let's just go to his place and go from there okay," Dean put in.

"That's fine," Fallon said before looking at Sam. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

"She makes a good point, Sam," Dean agreed. "This most likely will not have a happy ending."

"I know," Sam replied. "But he's my friend. "I have to at least look into it."

"Alright, then let's go," Fallon said and headed out to the Impala as Rebecca reentered the room with Zach's keys. They followed Rebecca to her brother's home and entered to see a brutal scene. There were blood spatters everywhere. "God, I hope your friend didn't do this Sam. This had to have been brutal."

Sam seemed to agree and turned to his friend and asked, "Bec, do you wanna wait outside?"

"No, I wanna help," Rebecca replied and walked further into the house.

"Tell us what the police said," Sam urged.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in, they say Emily let her attacker in," Rebecca began. "The lawyers- they're already talking about plea bargain. Oh God..." She began to cry again. Fallon felt immensely sorry for Sam's friend. She could only imagine how she would feel if her sister, Veda, was accused of murder, but she imagined she'd be just as distraught as Rebecca.

"Look, Bec, if Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did, any idea who?" Sam asked.

Rebecca was about to reply no when a thought crossed her face. "Um, there was something, about a week before," she told them. "Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes… Zach's clothes. The police- they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." The boys nodded their heads and then began to look around. Fallon followed behind Dean to look out the front door and watched a dog barking.

"Wonder what's wrong with him," Fallon said.

"You're what's wrong with him," Dean answered bluntly. "Dogs can see ghosts. It can probably tell what a creep you are."

Fallon's eyes flashed in anger and she opened her mouth before thinking about what was spilling out. "I disagree. It can probably sense from all the way across the street what a low life, good for nothing freak you are!" she retorted, practically breathing fire. A look of hurt flashed across his face before being replaced with anger. He was about to respond when they heard footsteps coming out behind them. They both turned to see Sam's friend heading over to them.

"You know, that used to be the sweetest dog," Rebecca said.

"What happened?" Dean asked turning his back on Fallon.

"He just changed," Becca replied.

"Do you remember when he changed?" Dean prompted.

"I guess around the time of the murder," Rebecca answered.

Dean nodded before heading over to Sam, with Fallon following behind, still seething. Dean was always throwing offhand comments about ghosts at her, and normally she brushed it off, but lately he was really over doing it. Fallon was snapped out of her thoughts when Dean said, "So, the neighbor's dog went psycho around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed."

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal," Sam replied.

"Yeah, so I've been told," Fallon said hotly.

Sam took one look between Fallon and Dean and saw the thundercloud on both their faces and groaned. "I told you guys to lay off on each other," he sighed.

"Well, maybe you should say it louder so maybe something will actually get through Dean's thick skull," Fallon snapped.

Dean opened his mouth to reply but Sam cut him off. "Okay enough," he said firmly before turning back to Dean. "So you think maybe this is our kind of problem?"

"No, probably not," Dean answered. "But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." Sam nodded his head in agreement and they walked over to Rebecca. "So the tape. The security footage… you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction."

"I've already got it," Rebecca replied instantly. "I didn't want to say something in front of the cop. I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself."

"Well that's convenient," Fallon muttered and pushed past Dean on her way to the door and called back over her shoulder. "I'll meet you at Rebecca's!" She quickly left the house and then teleported. She didn't know where she was going until she got there, and even then she didn't know why she'd chosen Nay Aug Park. Sure her parents had brought her and her sister here to play sometimes when she was a kid but it had never really meant anything special to her until…suddenly she began to stride quickly through the park. She cut her way into the woods and followed a beaten path, one she had only traveled once before. Fallon followed the path until it lead her to the gorge.

She could remember her father telling her stories about how people had used to jump into the gorge. Fallon had always thought of the gorge as Scranton's version of Niagara Falls. The thought of jumping in for a swim had always seemed appealing to her, but the stories her father told her about people who had died jumping had always prevented her from trying. Now Fallon walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the gorge below. She closed her eyes and jumped into a memory.

_"Mason, where are we going?" Fallon panted falling over another fallen_ branch.

_Mason turned back to look at her and smiled before pulling her back to her feet. "To see the gorge," he replied and slowed his pace to match hers._

_"Forgive me for pointing out the obvious," Fallon said, "but isn't that what the tree house is for?"_

_"Sure, but the tree house doesn't provide you the best view," Mason responded._

_Suddenly Fallon felt suspicious. "The best view?" she asked raising an eyebrow at Mason who had stopped to take off his shirt. He hung his clothes over a low branch on a tree before glancing back at her and grinning wickedly._

_"Ever feel like jumping?" he said._

_"Mason no!" Fallon cried and reached out for him, but was too slow. He took a running leap off the edge of the cliff and into the gorge. Fallon screamed. "MASON!" She ran to the edge and peered down into the water below frantically searching for her boyfriend. Tears started to well in her eyes and panic was settling in her chest until suddenly she saw him breach the surface. He immediately began laughing and whooping, clearly unhurt. "That wasn't funny, Mason!"_

_He was still laughing as he looked up at her. "Oh c'mon I'm fine!" he called swimming backwards so he could see her better. "The water's great. Jump in Fallon!"_

_"No way!" Fallon called down to him shaking her head emphatically._

_"Oh c'mon you'll be fine, I promise," Mason yelled. "Just jump towards the middle. You won't hit any rocks."_

_Fallon but her lips, temptation setting in. "What about my clothes?" she asked._

_"Take them off," Mason said and then laughed when she looked shocked. "What? I've seen you naked before."_

_"Someone will see," Fallon argued._

_Mason shook his head. "No one's ever at the park during the week," he assured her. "No one's going to see you." Fallon sighed and gave in, peeling off her clothes and lying them beside Mason's. Wearing only her bra and underwear she slowly crept back up to the edge of the cliff. She took a deep breath and then jumped off shrieking until she sliced into the cool water below. When she resurfaced Mason was right there. "That wasn't so bad was it?" he asked grinning cheekily at her._

_She splashed water into his face before quickly trying to swim away, but he caught her firmly around the waist and pulled her back towards him. "Did you just splash water in my face?" he asked quietly._

_Fallon smiled widely but shook her head. "No," she replied and then shrieked again as Mason pulled her closer and began kissing up and down her neck where he knew she was ticklish. "Mason stop!" she laughed._

_Mason pulled back but kept his grip on her. His liquid blue eyes stared seriously into her own. "I love you," he said. Fallon blinked in surprise. In the eight months since they'd been dating that was the first time he'd ever told her that. She opened her mouth to say it back when he captured her mouth with a kiss. She gave herself heart and soul into that kiss, pouring her love into him. He pulled her impossibly close to him and wrapped an arm tight around her waist. They continued to kiss as the sun slowly sunk in the sky, as the sound of the waterfall splashed all around them_.

Fallon opened her eyes and blinked in the sunlight. The sound of the gorge filled her ears. She took one last glance down into the water before teleporting back to Rebecca's house in St. Louis, where she found Sam and Dean watching the surveillance video. "Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" Sam asked clearly trying to get her out of the room.

"Oh sure," Rebecca replied and got up and walked past Fallon into the kitchen.

"Hey, maybe some sandwiches too," Sam called after her.

"What do you think this is…Hooters?" Rebecca called.

"I wish," Dean muttered.

"You would," Fallon replied and laughed when the boys jumped.

"Don't do that?" Dean said.

"When did you get back?" Sam asked.

"Just now," Fallon answered sitting down on the arm of the couch. "Find anything?"

Sam nodded. "Check this out," he said replaying a part of the tape.

Fallon looked closely at the screen as Zach came into view and looked up at the camera. Her eyes widened in surprise. "That doesn't look normal," she said peering closer at the screen. Zach's eyes looked pure silver. "Am I seeing this right?"

Sam nodded.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare," Dean pointed out.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen," Sam disagreed.

"I agree," Fallon said. "Sorry Dean, I was on your side until now. That looks supernatural."

"That coming from the ghost," Dean replied cuttingly.

Sam quickly interceded before another fight could break out. "You know, a lot of cultures believe a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul," he said trying to distract them.

"Right," Dean replied unconvinced.

"Remember that dog that was freakin' out?" Sam asked. "Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is dome kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't."

"Like a Doppelganger," Dean said.

"Or an evil twin!" Fallon cried excitedly and then deflated when both brothers looked at her like she was crazy. "It could happen."

"Right," Sam replied unconvinced. "Either way it's sure explain how he was in two places at once."

"Alright, but that still doesn't help Zack unless we can find his…evil twin?" Dean said questioningly looking back at Fallon.

"You hunt monsters for a living and evil twin is the strangest thing you've ever heard?" Fallon asked defensively.

"Actually," Sam replied before they both said together, "yes."

Fallon glared at them. "Fine," she sighed. "But Dean makes a good point. We can't help Zack without finding his…"

"Evil twin," Dean coughed and then ducked when she made to slap him.

"So did you catch anything on the surveillance video?" Rebecca asked coming back into the room with the beer and sandwiches.

"No," Dean replied. "The video looks authentic." Rebecca's face fell in disappointment.

Sam got up to hug her. "Don't worry Bec," he assured her. "We haven't given up yet."

"We'll go check out the crime scene tomorrow morning," Dean agreed. "See if there's anything we missed."

Early the next morning Fallon was making her way back to the hotel when she saw both boys walking towards the car. "Early isn't it?" she asked popping over next to Dean.

"Disappointed you can't watch us sleep now?" Dean said teasingly.

Fallon felt her temper snap. "I already told you I…"

"Guys!" Sam said loudly. "It's way too early for that. Can we just get to Zack's please?" Fallon and Dean both glared at each other but didn't say another word as they got in the Impala and drove to the crime scene.

"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asked as they stepped out of the car.

"I realized something," Sam answered, "The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out."

"So, he came out the back door?" Dean said.

"Right," Sam agreed. "So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue."

"Cause they think the killer never left, and they caught your Zack inside," Dean continued. "I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning."

"I'm pretty sure this is why," Fallon called from where she stood by the telephone pole. Both boys came over to see what she was looking at.

"Blood," Sam said. "Somebody came this way."

"Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over hear," Dean said. Fallon and Sam were about to reply when an ambulance suddenly drove by.

"I'm guessing that can't be good," Fallon stated.

"Let's go check it out," Dean said and the three made their way up the block. Dean made his way to the front of the crowd and asked some lady what happened.

"He tried to kill his wife," the woman replied solemnly. "Tied her up and beat her."

"Really?" Sam asked faking surprise.

"Sounds familiar," Fallon muttered.

The woman nodded. "I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello," the woman contemplated. "He seemed like such a nice guy." The three watched alongside the woman as the man was escorted to the police car and driven away before they left the crowd behind.

"I guess we have another house to scope out," Fallon said.

Sure enough later that afternoon they were back at the house looking for clues. "Hey," Dean said grabbing Sam and Fallon's attention. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Definitely our kind of problem," Dean confirmed.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asked.

"Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story," Dean told them. "Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."

"So he couldn't possibly have done it," Fallon said.

"Unless he was in two places at once, just like Zack," Sam agreed.

"Exactly," Dean replied. "Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob."

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way," Sam murmured thoughtfully.

"Two murderers with the same MO in one town?" Fallon questioned. "I doubt that's even statistically possible."

"Could be the same thing doin' it, too," Dean pointed out

"Shape shifter?" Sam pondered. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?"

"Every culture in the world has a shape shifter lore," Dean stated. "You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men."

"Hold on a second," Fallon interrupted. "You're saying Mystique killed these people?"

"Who?" Dean and Sam asked simultaneously.

"Mystique," Fallon said again, but both boys just gave her blank looks. "The comic book character. You know red hair, blue skin, Magneto's right-hand man in the X-men movies?" The boys just shook their heads. "God, you two have no lives!"

"Says the girl who thinks a comic book character is stalking the town of St. Louis," Dean retorted before adding seriously.

"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessing we've got a shape shifter prowling the neighborhood."

"Let me ask you this… in all shape shifting lore, can any fly?" Sam asked.

"Well, if she's taking on someone else's power, but that's only later in the series though," Fallon said before Dean stopped her.

"Enough with the comic book crap. We're talking about real life here," Dean said.

"Now that's the strangest thing I've ever heard," Fallon replied.

Dean scowled at her before turning back to Sam. "Not that I know of," he answered.

"I picked up a trail here," Sam said tilting his head at the side of the house. "Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way."

"Just like your friend's house," Dean stated.

"Yeah, and just like Zack's house the trail suddenly ends," Sam pointed out. "I mean, whatever it is just disappeared."

"Who said they had to go up?" Fallon inquired.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Well, there's another way to go…down," Dean said and looked down at the manhole cover he and Fallon had noticed.

"We're gonna have to go down there aren't we?" Fallon asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Afraid so," replied Dean lifting up the lid and motioning with his hand for Sam and Fallon to climb down. The two looked at each other before lowering themselves into the manhole, Dean following behind them.

"This is so gross," Fallon muttered.

"Quit complaining," Dean said.

"I bet this runs right by Zack's house too," Sam stated. "The shape shifter could be using the sewer system to get around."

"Charming," Fallon muttered.

"I think you're right," Dean told him. "Look at this." The three bent down to examine what looked like a melted corpse on the ground. Fallon instantly felt sick. "You okay?" Dean asked looking at her concerned.

Fallon shook her head. "No," she replied. "That's…if I could throw up I would."

"Is this from the victims?" Sam asked. Dean leaned closer to examine the skin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You know, I just had a sick thought," Dean murmured. "When the shape shifter changes shape…maybe it sheds."

"That is sick," Sam agreed.

"Can we please go?" Fallon burst out.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Sam said and they climbed back up out of the manhole and headed for the car.

"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shape shifter it is, there's only one sure way to kill it," Dean stated when they reached the Impala.

"Silver bullet to the heart," Sam said.

"That's right," Dean replied as Sam's cell started to ring.

"This is Sam," he answered the phone. Fallon watched his face fall as the conversation went on. "Bec, I'm sorry, but…"

"I hate to say it but that's exactly what I'm talking about," Dean said. "You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just…it'd be easier if-"

"If I was like you," Sam finished. "Or Fallon."

"Hey man, like it or not we are not like other people," Dean said. "But I'll tell you one thing…this whole gig… it ain't without perks."

"Yeah you got to meet me," Fallon agreed. Sam smiled at her before putting an arm around her shoulder.

"That wasn't the perk I was thinking of," Dean muttered. Fallon opened her mouth to reply but Sam quickly put a hand over her mouth. Dean glanced at her then and rolled his eyes. "I was just kidding. You're a real joy to hang around."

"Dean," Sam warned. "Let's just come up with a game plan."

"Well, I'm thinking after we make our silver bullet we're gonna have to go hunting the sewers again," Dean replied.

"Oh not again," Fallon sighed.

"You don't have to come," Dean told her. "In fact, I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Well, just for that I'm coming," Fallon snapped. "And when something goes horribly wrong I hope you're the one who has to pay for it." And with that she turned on her heels and stomped off to the motel.

Later that day Fallon and the boys were back in the sewer. She and Dean still weren't talking to each other and the tension in the air was palpable. Sam had tried to mediate between them but neither was quite willing to kiss and make up yet. Suddenly, as they walked deeper into the sewer, Dean said, "I think we're close to its lair."

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face," Dean stated calmly.

"Oh God," Sam groaned stumbling away from the pile of skin.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while," Dean murmured.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam said turning around to face Dean and Fallon. "Dean!" Dean and Fallon both spun around to see the shape shifter right behind them. The shape shifter swiftly punched Dean and shoved Fallon back. She heard Sam fire a shot before he quickly hurried to their sides.

Dean climbed back to his feet and said, "Get the son of a bitch!" The three chased after it. Fallon popped out of the sewer ahead of the boys and glanced around for the shifter, but he was out of sight. The boys were out a few seconds behind her.

"Alright, let's split up," Sam suggested.

"Alright, I'll meet you and Fallon around the other side," Dean agreed and they quickly head off in their assigned directions. Fallon quickly ran in her direction, eyes scanning the streets for the shifter. She phased through people and buildings, but if the shape shifter had gone this way he'd been successful in alluding her. Sighing she turned around and retraced her steps until she met up with Sam.

"Did you find him?" Sam asked, but she just shook her head. "Me either."

"Maybe Dean had more luck," Fallon supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, maybe," Sam said and they both looked around them for Dean until they both spotted him coming.

"Hey," Dean greeted them. "Anything?"

"No. He's gone," Sam answered.

Fallon was about to throw in her own comment when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She looked more closely at Dean. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You were gone for quite a while."

Dean glanced at her. "Yeah, I just kept thinking if I went further I'd find him. I was wrong," he said reassuringly. Fallon nodded still looking closely at him. It wasn't exactly the snarky reply she had become used to. "All right, let's get back to the car." Sam and Fallon crossed together with Dean right behind them.

"You think he found another way underground?" Sam suggested.

"Yeah, probably," Dean answered checking his pockets. "You got the keys?"

Fallon watched Sam's features twist into an expression of caution. Sam turned to Dean and stated slowly, "Hey, didn't Dad once face a shape shifter in San Antonio?"

"Oh that was Austin," Dean replied. "It turned out not to be a shape shifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?"

"Oh, right," Sam agreed. "Here ya go." Fallon stopped herself from interceding the keys. She wanted to tell Sam that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She looked more closely at Dean trying to figure it out. It was Dean right? Dean had opened the trunk by now and was checking all the weapons when Sam pulled his gun out on him.

"Don't move!" Sam shouted. "What have you done with him?"

"Dude, chill. It's me okay," Dean said trying to sound reassuring, and that's when Fallon realized what was bothering her. He was trying.

"That's not Dean, Sam," she said stepping forward to stand beside him.

"Where's my brother?" Sam asked.

"You're about to shoot him," Dean replied insistently. "Sam, Fallon, calm down."

"You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, it's better," Dean said looking back and forth between them, the look on his face clearly portraying he thought they'd lost their marbles. "What do you want me to do, cry?"

Fallon smirked. "Actually…" But Sam interrupted her. "You're not my brother," he said firmly.

"Why don't you pull the trigger then? Hmm?" Dean goaded. "Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me."

"Don't!" Sam cried, but the shape shifter clonked Sam twice with a crowbar before either Sam or Fallon could react. Fallon lashed out at the shape shifter as Sam fell to the ground but he quickly threw a fistful of salt at her. Fallon screamed in agony and felt herself fading away when the shape shifter grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Don't even think about it," he warned as he tied her wrists together with rope he'd covered in salt so she could not escape. "I can't have you trying to rescue them later, now can, I?"

"You bastard," she hissed struggling to stay on her two feet.

"That hurts," the shifter said. "I think I like you better unconscious." Fallon struggled to turn her face away, but the shifter wrenched her face towards him and pried open her jaw, pouring a box of salt down her throat. Fallon felt as if her whole body were on fire and briefly wondered if it was possible to die twice before mercifully blacking out.

When she came to she recognized that she was back in the sewers. She tried to take a step forward but was stopped by the salt circle she was imprisoned in. Her attention was caught by the resounding sound of skin against skin, and she turned her head to see the shifter staring down at a tied up Sam. He was still using Dean's skin.

"Where is he? Where's Dean?" she heard Sam ask.

"I wouldn't worry about him," The shape shifter told him. "I'd worry about you."

"Where is he?" Sam repeated.

"You don't really want to know," the shifter laughed.

Fallon felt ice cold fear fill her chest at his words. "Where is he!" she called out desperately. Her voice was hoarse, the result of the salt burning her throat raw.

The shape shifter looked over at her and gave her an icy glare before turning back to Sam. "I swear the more I learn about you and your family- I thought I came from a bad background."

"What do you mean learn?" Sam questioned and Fallon watched as he tried to break free of his bonds.

"He's sure got issues with you," the shifter continued. "You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"

"Where is my brother?" Sam asked again, growing more irritated.

"I am your brother," the shape shifter replied. "See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak, a low life. I don't need Fallon to point it out to me. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me." Fallon felt her heart rip in two. She had figured out in the time she'd been with the boys that Dean had self-esteem issues. That his constant sarcasm and cynicism were just a mask to hide his pain. But she hadn't realized how deep his self-hatred ran. And to the thought that she had contributed toward it made her feel nauseous.

"Dean," she choked tears filling her eyes. "You don't…really think that's how I see you right? I don't…"

"Don't lie to me," the shifter snorted. "Why would you think anything else of me? I mean you're pretty. You were popular, and smart, and athletic. You had it all. Why would you bother having anything to do with me? We both know you think I'm a freak. You only stay for Sam. You two are the ones with everything in common. I know once Sam goes, you'll leave me too."

"What are you talkin' about?" Sam demanded puzzled.

"You left," the shape shifter said. "Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me too. No explanation, nothing, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks. I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let's see what happens." Fallon watched helplessly as the shifter covered Sam with a sheet so he couldn't see and watched him as he left the sewer.

"Damn it," Sam muttered struggling to free his wrists of their ropes.

"That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature," Dean's voice rang out from somewhere to Fallon's right.

"Dean!" she called relief clear in her voice.

"I'm alright, Fallon," he called back to reassure her.

"Yeah, it's me," Sam said then. "He went to Rebecca's lookin' like you."

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one," Dean replied working over his own bonds.

"Oh my God," Fallon muttered and then froze. Hadn't she just heard the results of her teasing? No, she wasn't about to make him feel worse about himself.

"What? No comment, Fallon?" Dean goaded but she just kept quiet. "Fallon?" Fallon opened her mouth to respond when Sam interceded.

"Yeah, that's the thing," Sam said. "He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you." Fallon saw Dean stand up then having untied himself.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked puzzled.

"I don't know," Sam replied, "it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories."

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" Dean suggested.

"Yeah something like that," Sam nodded. "I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us."

"Maybe he needs to keep us alive," Dean added as he began to untie Sam's bonds. "Psychic connection."

"I love how you just talk about this like it was normal," Fallon said toeing the line of the salt circle.

"Normal's relative," Sam replied and then sighed when the ropes gave. "Come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already."

Dean and Sam started to leave before Fallon called them back. "Um…guys!" she called and both spun around to look at her. "I could use some help."

Dean chuckled. "Sorry," he said hurrying over to her. "Not used to freeing ghosts from traps. We're more used to getting them in the salt circles." He then quickly broke the circle with his foot. However, the salt circle was the only thing that was keeping Fallon standing. She felt herself sway and then panicked as the floor started to loom closer to her head. "Hey!" Dean cried catching hold of her. "Are you alright?"

Fallon shook her head clinging weakly to Dean's shoulders. "He poured salt," she whispered raspingly, "down my throat." She was shocked when she felt his arms tighten around her and heard him growl slightly.

"I'll kill that bastard," he hissed.

Fallon crooked her head up to look at him. "I'm not going to be able to teleport to Rebecca," she croaked out. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Sam said squeezing her hand. "Are you gonna be able to walk."

Fallon nodded her head. "I'm still in the game," she assured him. "We better hurry." And with that the three quickly made their way out of the sewer, with Dean more or less carrying Fallon out.

"Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police," Sam said in a rush.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean cried. "You're gonna put an APB out on me."

"Sorry," Sam shrugged. "It's our only option."

Dean sighed. "This way," he said and led them over to a telephone booth.

Sam quickly fed it fifty cents and dialed 911. "Hello, I'm calling to report a suspicious act in the area. I saw someone slip into the window of someone's home," Sam went on to give them the address. "Alright thank you."

"So what now?" Dean asked.

"There's a store front I noticed that has a TV that continuously runs the news," Fallon suggested. "We'll be able to find out what happens from there."

Sam nodded. "Sounds good to me," he agreed, and the three made their way to the store. They all felt relieved when the news coverage switched to Rebecca.

"An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T. team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home," the reporter covered as a sketch of Dean flashed across the screen.

"Man! That's not even a good picture," Dean complained.

"It's better than a mug shot will be if you don't keep your voice down," Fallon said urgently joining Sam in looking around to make sure no one was recognizing Dean.

"It's good enough," Sam said before walking away from the storefront. "Come on. They said attempted murder. At least we know…"

"I didn't kill her," Dean finished.

"We'll check with Rebeca in the morning, see if she's all right," Sam said.

"Alright, but first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him," Dean insisted.

"We have no weapons. No silver bullets," Sam pointed out.

"Sam, the guy's walkin around with my face, okay, it's a little personal, I wanna find him," Dean urged. "Not to mention what he did to Fallon!"

"I'm fine," Fallon tried to insist. Truthfully, she still felt pretty weak, but at least now the world wasn't spinning. "No reason to act altruistic about me." She sighed and then turned guiltily to look at Sam. "I want him dead."

Sam sighed. "Okay. Where do we look?" he asked giving in.

"Well, we could start with the sewers," Dean proposed.

"We have no weapons," Sam said again. "He stole our guns, we need more. The car?"

"I'm bettin' he drove over to Rebecca's," Dean agreed.

"The news said he fled on foot," Sam continued. "I bet it's still parked there."

Dean shook his head. "The thought of him driving my car," he sighed distressed. Sam rolled his eyes.

"All right, come on," Sam said.

"It's killing me," Dean insisted.

Fallon couldn't help the sarcastic snort. "I'll arrange for a coffin," she grumbled and then froze as she remembered the shifter's speech in the sewers. "I mean it'll be fine okay. We can disinfect the car." She hurried ahead of him then pointedly avoiding the strange look he was giving her.

"Wow that salt he drowned you with really must have had an effect on your personality," Dean declared. "You're almost pleasant."

Fallon bit back her usual retort and just nodded. "Must have," she agreed tersely as they rounded the corner of Rebecca's street and saw the Impala parked at the curve.

"Oh there she is!" Dean sighed din relief. "Finally, something went right tonight."

"I think you spoke too soon," Fallon said dryly as a police cruiser pulled around the opposite corner and parked beside the Impala.

"Oh crap," Dean sighed and the three turned around to walk away but were trapped by another police car parked a few feet away. Dean started leading them over to a fence. "This way, this way."

"You go. I'll hold 'em off," Sam ordered.

"What are you talking about?" Dean exclaimed. "They'll catch you."

"Look, they can't hold me. Just go," Sam ordered again glancing back at Dean. "Keep out of sight. Meet me at Rebecca's." Dean nodded and quickly started to climb the fence. "Dean!" Sam called out. "Stay out of the sewers alone. I mean it!"

"Yeah, yeah!" they heard him call back.

"You know he's heading straight for the sewers right?" Fallon said.

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Go after him will you?"

"You sure?" Fallon asked. "You might need help getting your way out of this one."

"I'll be fine. Just go after him," Sam said and Fallon nodded before hurrying after Dean. She didn't have far to go. Sure enough Dena had doubled back to the car and was fumbling around in the trunk for weapons.

"You are something do you know that?" she asked walking up right behind him.

"And she's back," Dean said closing the trunk of the car and tucking his gun inside his jeans. "You ready to go?"

Fallon sighed. "Let's just get this over with," she groaned and led the way to the manhole behind Rebecca's house. She stopped at the edge.

"Ladies first," Dean said nodding his chin for her to go down.

"You're the one with the gun," she shot back.

Dean grinned wickedly before sliding the manhole open and began to descend into the sewers. "Wimp," he called up to her. She glowered down at him as she climbed in after him. The two quickly began to search the tunnels for the shape shifter. The deeper into the sewer they went the more piles of skin they came across.

"This is so disgusting!" Fallon squealed softly. "I thought shape shifters would be so cool, like in books and movies."

"How old are you?" Dean called back over his shoulder, but then lifted a hand for her to be quiet before she could reply. "Did you hear that?"

"No," Fallon replied. "What was it?" Her answer came back a soft groan. Dean and Fallon quickly began to follow the noise through another tunnel until they found someone covered in a sheet. Dean quickly removed the sheet. Fallon blinked in surprise.

"Rebecca?" Dean whispered shocked. "What happened?"

"I was walking home, and everything just went white," Rebecca told them. Well, she told Dean anyway; she couldn't see Fallon. "Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turning into me. I don't know, how is that even possible?"

"Okay, okay. It's okay," Dean comforted her as he untied her. "Come on. Can you walk? We've gotta hurry. Sam went to see you." Fallon gasped and Dean looked up at her concerned.

"Sam," Fallon whispered and immediately teleported to Rebecca's house. She landed on her hands and knees. The amount of power it had taken in her weakened state was too much. The world was pressing in on her and there were two of everything she saw. Fallon shook her head trying to focus and pulled herself to her feet. She had to get to Sam before it was too late. She stumbled her way down the hall to where she heard a crash. She arrives in the room just in time to see Sam emerging from a pile of books. The shape shifter was pretending to be Dean again.

"Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass," he was saying taking a pool cue and swinging it at Sam who dodged. Fallon ran clumsily at him and tried to take him by surprised, but he swung around and shoved her hard into the pool table. "I knew you'd show up at some point," the shifter laughed at her weak struggles to shove him off. "You're so attached to these boys. I know you think they can help you find a way to be human again, but you're wrong. They can't. I think you know it, too. I think we know the real reason you stay with them."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she gasped as he pressed down on her windpipe. She was desperate to make him keep talking. Sam was slowly making his way up behind the shifter. She just needed to keep him distracted.

"Oh yes you do," the shape shifter said. "You know exactly why you stick around. It's because you've developed feel…ugh!" Sam had yanked the shifter off of her and onto the floor. The shifter quickly kicked Sam off and the two grappled with each other before crashing into the coffee table. Fallon screamed when the shifter gained the upper hand and began to choke Sam. She tried to make her way over to them, but she could no longer stand.

Suddenly she heard Dean's voice booming down the hall towards them. "Hey!" he cried and the shifter quickly got off Sam when he saw Dean enter the room. Fallon watched as Dean fired two bullets into the shape shifter, and then as the shifter fell dead upon the ground.

"Sam!" Fallon heard Rebecca call out and saw the girl rush to Sam's side, but she herself watched Dean take back his amulet from the shape shifter. He stood up and glanced over at her then looking concerned.

"You all right?" he asked.

Fallon smiled weakly up at him. "Peachy," she said and then slumped back against a leg of the pool table. "But I think it's gonna take me awhile to recover from this adventure."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Rebecca asked and Fallon blinked in surprise before remembering that she was talking to Sam.

"No," Sam replied roughly as he began to sit up. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Dean questioned tearing his glance away from Fallon.

"Yeah," Sam said getting to his feet. "I think you're probably gonna want to call the police though." He nodded his head at the dead body.

Rebecca nodded her head. "What do I tell the police?" she asked.

Dean handed her his gun. "Tell them I came back and tried to kill you," Dean ordered. "Tell them you were able to get the gun off me and that you shot me when I continued to attack you."

"Don't worry," Sam reassured her. "Well drop by and make sure you're okay in the morning."

"I don't know how to thank you," she told them.

"Don't worry about it," Dean said bending down to pick up a billiard cue, when in reality it had been to pull Fallon to her feet. He settled her against him and kept her upright as she stumbled her way out of the house. "It's our job."

Sure enough the next morning they went back to Rebecca's house to check on her. Fallon and Dean stayed by the car as Sam made his farewell. Fallon leaned back against the car and tilted her face to the sun. She felt mostly recovered after resting through the night, but was still a little weak. She must have looked it too, because both Dean and Sam promised her they would not look for another case for a whole week. Soon enough Sam made his way back to the Impala and the three of them hit the road.

"Sorry, man," Dean said suddenly from the driver's seat.

"About what?" Sam asked confused.

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be… Joe College," Dean said.

"No, that's okay," Sam assured him. "You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in."

"Well, that's cause you're a freak," Dean teased.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam said.

"Well, I'm a freak too," Dean replied. "I'm right there with ya, all the way."

"Yeah, I know you are," Sam agreed.

"You know, I gotta say- I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it," Dean sighed.

"Miss what?" Sam asked.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" Dean replied.

"Only you," Fallon muttered resting her head against the backseat.

Dean glanced back in the rearview mirror at her. "You gonna be all right back there?" he asked.

Fallon smiled. "Yeah, just do me a favor and don't sing along with your tapes for the next 100 miles," she answered.

Sam laughed. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'll pinch him whenever he starts up."

"Thanks, Sammy," she murmured and closed her eyes and let another memory wash over her.

_It had been three weeks since Mason had told her he loved her, and in that short period of time so much had changed. At first when Mason stopped calling her back or answering her texts she assumed it was because he was embarrassed. She assured herself that everything would be fine. She'd talk to him when she saw him at school which began the next week and patch things up between them. But when school began she never got a chance to talk to Mason about the incident. Whenever she tried to bring it up he'd abruptly change the topic or make an excuse to leave. He began to avoid her and dodge her in the halls. Fallon pretended that she couldn't see the sympathetic looks from her friends as they realized the relationship had ended before she had._

_Fallon began to grow restless. What could she possibly have done to drive him away? Determined to find out, Fallon followed Mason to his locker and cornered him. "Hey, can we talk?" she asked. She'd refused to begin the sentence by saying we need to talk. We need to talk always meant we're breaking up._

_Mason shifted uncomfortably and glanced nervously over her shoulder. Fallon started to turn around to see what he was looking at when his golden voice called her attention back to him. "I can't right now," he said blankly. "I have to meet with a teacher. I'm not doing well in her class."_

_Fallon gave him a funny look. "It's the second week of school," she pointed out._

_Mason shrugged. "It's not an impossibility for me," he joked lamely and turned to his locker, stuffing books inside._

_Fallon sighed in defeat. "Well will you call me later?" she insisted. "Please. I really want to talk to you."_

_Mason turned back to and sighed impatiently. "Yeah, okay, I'll call you later," he told her. "Now I'm really going to be late." He quickly brushed past her and headed down B Wing. Fallon started to head to her own locker when something made her turn around and follow him. She stayed close to the wall so she could duck into a doorway if he glanced behind him, but he never did. She followed him down to first floor and watched him enter a classroom._

_"Maybe he really is just seeing a teacher," she thought but something in the pit of her stomach told her that couldn't be true. She felt her foot pushing her reluctantly forward towards the classroom. Taking a deep breath she opened the door to the classroom and froze as she saw Mason locking lips with a perky redhead who was in her history class. She meant to back out of the room before either of them could notice her, but she must have made a noise because Mason abruptly lifted his head up and stared in wide eyed surprise at her._

_"Fallon," he started, but Fallon shook her head and started backing up out of the classroom. Mason took a step forward. "Fallon, it's not what it looks like."_

_Fallon let out a hysterical laugh. "Oh really?" she babbled voice hitching. "Cause I'd really love to hear your explanation. What did you do trip?" She let out another hysteric laugh as she looked between Mason who was trying to hold her gaze, and the girl who was looking everywhere but at Fallon._

_"Fallon, please…"_

_"No!" Fallon cried. "No…I…we're done." And she spun around and stormed out of the classroom. She forced herself to hold back tears as she walked back upstairs and got her homework from her locker, she forced herself to hold back tears as she made her way through a sea of high school student, and she forced back tears as her father drove her home. It was not until she ran up to her room, rushing past her mother who asked her how her day was, that she finally let the tears go. She felt the sobs rack through her body as she curled into a fetal position on her bed. She wrapped her arms tight around her chest, afraid that if she didn't she'd fall apart. He'd lied when he told her he loved her. If he had lied about that what else had he lied about? If he had really thought she was pretty, that she was incredible, that she was so talented he wouldn't have had to lie about loving her. He'd been lying to her the whole time. Because if she was really any of the things he'd told her than she wouldn't have her heart broken right now. And it was at this realization that Fallon truly began to hate herself._

Fallon blinked out of her memory and quickly brushed a few tears away. She glanced at the front seat to make sure Sam or Dean hadn't noticed, but they were laughing over an old case they'd been on years before. She sighed and stared out the window and watched the scenes blur into one. She didn't say a word until they stopped at a motel ten hours into the drive. Sam had gone to check them in while Dean grabbed their shoulder bags from the trunk. He had started heading towards the motel when Fallon called him back. "Dean," she called.

He turned around to look at her. "Yeah?" he asked.

Fallon bit her lip and looked away before turning back to Dean. "You don't…" she started. "I mean… you know I don't really think that you're…"

"Is this about what the shape shifter told you in the sewers?" Dean guessed.

"You heard what he said?" Fallon asked surprised. She had thought he'd been unconscious.

"Yeah, I heard," Dean answered. "Is that why you've been refraining from you're snarky comments? He was just playing you Fallon. I don't really care what you think of me."

"But I don't think you're a freak," Fallon blurted out and Dean blinked in surprise. "I don't think you're a low life. I think you're wonderful. I mean, you save people for a living Dean. You… you're a hero."

Dean let out a laugh. "I'm not sure what to say to that," he replied. "Thanks, I guess."

Fallon nodded and then bit her lips before asking, "So none of what he said was true?"

To her amazement Dean actually blushed. "Well, some if it was true," he admitted pointedly trying to avoid her eyes.

"Which parts?" Fallon pushed further.

Dean sighed and turned his gaze on her. "The family history," he said.

Fallon nodded her head not sure why she was continuing to push this. "But do you really think I'm pretty?" she asked refusing to look away from him.

For a moment the whole world fell away and it was just the two of them. Then Dean walked back towards her until there was hardly any space left between them. "I think you're beautiful," he told her staring deeply into her eyes for a few moments before turning around and walking over to Sam who now had a room key.

Fallon leaned back against the Impala crossing her arms, and thought back to what the shape shifter had said when he was attacking her at Rebecca's. 'You know exactly why you stick around. It's because you've developed feelings…' Fallon groaned and leaned her head back against the car. It didn't take a genius to figure out who he'd been referring too. She was developing feelings for Dean. She sighed and looked over at the room the boys had entered. "I'm in trouble," she said and started making her way across the parking lot. 


	5. Part of a Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fallon is excited when their new case appears to be the origin of a well known folklore. She is less excited to be spending time on a college campus. A bad memory comes back to light while on the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. If you have the time please leave a review.
> 
> Warning: There is mention of sexual assault in this chapter. Please do not read if this will be a trigger for you or if you find it too upset. I do not want to cause anyone emotional or psychological harm.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. All rights belong to the writers and creators of the show.

The trio had been in the Impala for hours now, passing through an unending supply of nowhere towns in the middle of nowhere, U.S.A. Fallon had talked the boys into a game of Twenty Questions and they'd been playing for a while now. Well, she and Dean had been playing anyway. Sam was brooding. Somewthing he apparently did very well. Fallon knew it was because of their last case, which turned out not to be a case at all. They had stumbled across the non-case innocently enough, when they had stopped at just another random diner in, you guessed it, the middle of nowhere. A few of the locals had been sitting at the bar of the diner gossiping about a fellow local who'd been found dead in his home. The third local that week.

Fallon, Dean, and Sam had hopped on the case, interviewing the victims' families and researching suspicious deaths that had occurred previously in the town. Anything they could think of to find the culprit. But after almost a week of digging for clues, and another local's death, one of the victim's friends had stepped forward and confessed that he and his buddies had made a suicide pact, or in other words, there was nothing supernatural about this case. No ghost was wreaking havoc on the town, just a group of middle-aged men having a mid-life crisis. One hell of a mid-life crisis if you asked Fallon.

However, one of the suicides had been a father, and it was the distress of his son that triggered Sam's desire to find his own father. Sam had been insisting that they needed to buckle down, and seriously start searching for his and Dean's father. Dean had protested pointing out that their father might not want to be found, but Sam was adamant and refused to be deterred. Dean in return refused to be swayed and the three had gotten into the Impala and driven out of the hell-hole that is suburbia.

That had been hours ago, and Sam was still sulking. It was one of the few times that Fallon got on better with Dean than Sam. Not that they were fighting, it was just that when Sam was like this he was no longer a person Fallon recognized. He certainly wasn't her best friend who geeked out with her over literary characters and TV. shows they both liked. When he was like this he could only focus on whatever was on his mind, and right now what was on his mind did not include her. Her feelings weren't hurt however, she knew it wasn't personal.

"Pull off at this exit," Sam order suddenly. "I want to make a call."

"That's what your cellphone is for, Sammy," Dean teased, but pulled into the exit lane anyway.

"Not for this phone call," Sam said in a tone that called for no questions. Fallon watched Dean's jaw set in a hard line, lips thinning in displeasure. He angrily pressed down on the gas pedal and they sped into town. Dean pulled over at a cafe that had a payphone outside. Sam barely stayed in the car long enough to give Dean his order before hurrying purposely for the payphone. While Dean was inside ordering, Fallon people watched. There were an array of teenagers scattered around the outside tables. It was probably this town's hot spot, much in the same way the Steam town Mall was for the teenagers in Scranton. There were one or two businessmen, taking their breaks or going over business charts on their laptops. Fallon noted that it was not a café that catered to families.

It wasn't long before Dean came back with his and Sam's orders. Fallon knew their orders by now. Dean always got his coffee black, occasionally adding a shot of Johnny Walker, and Sam ordered some fancy cup with a name Fallon was sure a group of people had been played to come up with. Fallon watched Dean sit down and take a gulp of his coffee before turning to stare after Sam. She frowned, feeling ignored, and lifted her legs to rest her feet on his knees. Dean turned and gave her an odd look. Fallon flashed him an award winning smile. "Entertain me," she ordered slyly.

Dean's smile turned into and amused smirk. "You do know that to the rest of the living world you're invisible," he pointed out. "People will think I'm talking to myself. You don't want people to think I'm crazy, do you?"

"I'd do it for you," she pouted. "Friends do all sorts of crazy things for each other."

"We're friends are we?" Dean asked although the way he said it, it didn't sound like an insult.

Fallon pretended to think about her answer. "More like close aquaintences," she acquiesced.

Dean chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright, just hold on one second," he said and got up from the table and walked over to the Impala. He came back with Sam's laptop. "Here, now maybe people won't notice. We need to look for a new case anyway."

"Yeah, maybe this time we'll find a real case," Fallon said moving over to a chair next to Dean. "You know while you have the computer open we could try and find another way to make me human again." She watched Dean pause using the search engine.

"Fallon," he started and then began again. "Fallon, we've been searching for months now, and we haven't found anything. Nothing that doesn't come with consequences anyway." That was true. The only methods they had found for turning a spirit back into a human came at high prices. Some would bring a person back, but they wouldn't come back right. Others came at the cost of another's life. Fallon however, was not ready to give up.

"There has to be something," she insisted.

"I don't think there is," Dean replied. "Look, I wish we could find something, I really do, and I'm not saying we should stop looking but I think we need to step away for a while. Clear our heads. Obsessing over this isn't doing any of us any favors, especially you. Let's just move on to a new case, okay?"

Fallon sighed in defeat. "Okay," she said as Dean clicked open the national death registry. They had been looking through the registry for five minutes before a dejected Sam made his way over to the table.

"Your, uh, half-calf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis," Dean snarked as Sam sat down.

"Bite me," Sam shot back before taking a drink of his coffee.

"It is a pretty ridiculous order," Fallon said. "I mean really half-calf? What are you a sorority girl?"

"As if you didn't drink the same thing when you were human, Miss Captain of the Cheerleading Squad," Sam teased.

Fallon rolled her eyes. "Just because I was captain of the cheer team does not mean I was counting calories," she replied. "And no actually, I didn't order the same thing because I didn't drink coffee, it's disgusting."

"How could you not like coffee?" Dean asked amazed. "That's just not normal."

She shrugged. "Guess I'm not normal," Fallon answered and then turned her attention to Sam. "Find out anything about your dad?"

"I checked the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank," Sam said. "No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his license plates for traffic violations."

Dean sighed. "Sam, I'm tellin ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found," he said pushing the laptop around to face Sam. "Now, check this out. It's a news item out of the Planes Courier, Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."

Sam began to scroll through the article. "The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road," he read aloud.

"Keep reading," Dean prompted.

"Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible," Sam finished.

"Could be something interesting," Dean said.

"Or it could be nothing at all," Sam disagreed. "One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man."

"But what if it is?" Dean encouraged. "Dad would check it out."

"I'm game," Fallon put in. "What's the harm in scoping things out?"

"It would be a waste of time," Sam argued. "And there are people out there who really do need our help."

"Well what if these people really do need our help?" Fallon insisted before hopping up and skipping to the Impala.

"Guess we're going to Ankeny," Dean said and followed after her.

On their way Sam looked up more information on the town and the victim. It was a small town where hardly anything bad happened. This kid's murder was probably the most excitement the town's had in years. The victim wasn't all that interesting. He had been a Frat boy. There was nothing about his life that lead any of them to believe someone would have serious beef with him. When they were five miles from their destination Fallon finally asked about their living arrangement. "So do you think this town will have a motel, or are we looking at a bed and breakfast?" she asked.

"Actually," Dean replied. "We're going to be posing as college students. We'll be living in the victim's fraternity house."

"What?" Fallon panned stiffening.

"College kids are more likely to open up to a friend than the police or FBI agents," Sam explained thinking she didn't understand. "So we're going to pose as…"

"No!" Fallon said firmly arms crossed and chin up.

"No what?" Dean asked confused.

"I am not living in a fraternity house," Fallon answered sternly. "I put up with enough from you two. I mean seriously Dean makes up for a whole fraternity!"

"Fallon, you're a ghost you technically don't live anywhere," Dean pointed out insensitively.

Sam thwacked him hard on the shoulder. "Dean!" he scolded before turning in his seat to face Fallon. "You don't have to spend a lot of time in the Frat house. And I promise we'll make it up to you okay? Next case we'll stay someplace nice."

"Deal," Fallon replied.

"Wait hold on a minute," Dean protested as they drove into the town. "Number one we can't afford someplace nice, and number two you hardly spend any time in the motel rooms."

"That's not true!" Fallon argued. "I may not spend any nights in the motel rooms, but I'm in the rooms all the time doing research."

"We don't do research all the time," Dean cried.

"Enough of the time," Fallon shot back.

"Okay that's enough guys," Sam said firmly breaking up their fight. "Dean, it's a fair compromise."

"Fine," Dean muttered. "We'll stay in some fancy hotel. Anything to keep the princess happy."

Sam sighed. "Make the next right," he ordered. "The Frat house is at the end of the block."

They parked the Impala in front of the house and got out and made their way to two college boys who were working on their own car. "Nice wheels," Dean called in greeting. "We're your fraternity brothers from Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay."

"Only bed available is in Murph's room," one of the fraternity boys answered. "One of you's gonna have to sleep on the floor."

"Oh that's not a problem," Dean answered. Soon enough they made their way to Murph's room. They opened the door to reveal an overweight college kid wearing yellow shorts, painting his body purple.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Fallon cried disgusted slinking into the room, careful not to touch anything. Sam and Dean both smile in amusement before knocking on the open door.

"Who are you?" Murph asked turning around wielding his paintbrush.

"We're your new roommates," Dean answered stepping into the room.

Murph considered this for half a second before handing Dean the bucket of paint and the paintbrush. "Do me a favor?" he asked. "Get my back. Big game today."

"Disgusting!" Fallon hissed wrinkling her nose. "You two owe me big. Forget the fancy hotel. I deserve a trip to Hawaii."

Dean, too, looked to be in no rush to paint the boys back. "He's the artist," he said pointing to Sam who gave him a dirty look. "Things he can do with a brush." Dean passed off the brush and paint to Sam before plopping down in a chair. "So Murph. Is it true?"

"What?" Murph asked.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week," Dean prompted.

"It never fails to amaze me how insensitive you are," Fallon said shaking her head.

"Yeah," Murph answered and Fallon felt a twinge of pity at his morose expression.

"What happened?" Sam asked sympathetically.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife," Murph replied. "Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy."

"Rich… he was with somebody?" Sam questioned.

At this Murph's mood perked up. "Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen," he said reverently.

"Who's Lori Sorensen?" Dean asked and then nodded at Sam. "You missed a spot. Just down there."

"Knock it off Dean," Fallon said.

"Lori's a freshman," Murph answered. "She's a local. Super-hot."

Fallon snorted in disgust. "Why are all men such pigs?" she muttered.

Meanwhile Murph continued talking, "And get this…she's a reverend's daughter."

Dean smiled when he got the information he wanted. "You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?" he asked.

"Oh it's just five blocks down from here," Murph answered. "Mass should actually be in session right now."

"Oh really?" Sam asked putting down the paint can and brush. "Well we should go see if we can make it."

"See you later, Murph," Dean called as he left the room.

"I am never stepping foot in there again," Fallon said shuddering. "You need me, you can find me by the Impala."

"We'll keep that in mind," Dean replied pulling away from the curb.

"I'm not kidding," Fallon insisted. "That place was a nightmare."

Sam laughed. "Didn't you live with Mason for a few months before…well you know," Sam asked.

"Yes, but Mason wasn't a slob," Fallon replied as Dean parked the car.

"I find that hard to believe," Dean said unbuckling. "Hey, listen, I think you should wait in the car."

Fallon gave him a funny look. "Yeah right," she said and started to open the door, but Dean reached over and pulled it shut. "Dean, I'm not staying in the car!" She sent a stern look at him before teleporting out of the car and to the porch steps.

"Fallon, no!" Sam and Dean both cried hurrying out of the car and rushing towards her.

She ignored them and stepped across the threshold into the church. Dean and Sam followed shortly after, breathing hard from running. She looked back and forth between the two of them. "What is wrong with you two?"

"What's wrong with you?" Dean hissed. "Ghosts aren't always allowed on Holy ground."

Fallon blinked in surprise. "Why not?" she inquired. "What happens to them?"

"They're usually destroyed," Sam answered and Fallon noticed he was staring at her incredulously. Of course, she realized he had expected for her to be demolished.

"It doesn't seem to be affecting me," she said.

"No," Sam agreed. "No it looks like you're immune."

"How?" Dean asked. "She shouldn't be nearly this powerful. She hasn't been a ghost that long!"

"Look I don't know why, but now's not the time to worry about it," Sam insisted. "Let's just go on and look for Lori." Fallon and Dean nodded before Sam opened the door and they began to walk down the aisle to two open seats in the front. Fallon stood to the side and ignored the curious looks the church members were sending their way. The priest continued his sermon. Fallon and the boys quickly spotted Lori sitting in the aisle across from them. She was pretty, her light brown hair was neatly in place and her brown eyes looked kindly at them as she smiled their way, or Sam's way anyway. Fallon smiled when Sam smiled back.

After service ended the trio made their way over to Lori who was saying goodbye to a friend. "Are you Lori?" Sam asked coming over to her.

"Yeah," Lori replied shyly.

"My name is Sam," he introduced himself. "This is my brother, Dean."

"And I'm his best friend, Fallon," Fallon gave her introduction to deaf ears as Dean waved hello.

"We just transferred here to the university," Sam said.

"I saw you inside," Lori responded.

"We don't want to bother you," Sam started. "We just heard about what happened and…"

"We wanted to say how sorry we were," Dean put in.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I…I saw someone get hurt once," Sam said, forcing the words out. "It's something you don't forget."

Suddenly the reverend walked up to them. "Dad, um, this is Sam and Dean," Lori said. "They're new students." Dean reached his hand out to shake the reverends.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir," Dean greeted. "I must say that was an inspiring sermon."

Fallon rolled her eyes. "Don't lie to a priest," she scolded. "It has to be bad luck."

"Thank you very much," the Reverend said appreciatively, completely unaware of her presence. That had always surprised her as a ghost. A person who supposedly communicated with God couldn't see the lost soul right in front of their face. It had depleted the little faith she had had in religion. "It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."

Dean chuckled under his breath. Fallon knew Dean held just as much stock in God as she did. "Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually," he said leading the reverend away from Sam and Lori.

Sam and Lori watched them leave before Sam turned to Lori and said, "Tell me, Lori, what are the police saying?"

"Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that," Lori replied bashfully.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"My story," she started slowly. "I was so scared I guess I was 'seeing things'.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't real," Sam assured her.

"Way to go Romeo," Fallon said from over Lori's shoulders. "Keep it up and she'll spill the whole story." Sam subtly rolled his eyes at her. "Dean and I will meet you at the library." She walked over to Dean who was saying goodbye to the reverend. "Let's go to the library."

"What about Sam?" Dean asked following her out of the church.

"He's going to meet us there," she told him. "He's getting the story out of Lori."

"Okay, so what are we going to do at the library?" Dean continued to interrogate her.

She rolled her eyes. "What else?" she said slipping into the front passenger seat. "We're going to research the history of the town, especially the history of 9 Mile Road. See if we can't spot anything spooky."

"Spooky?" Dean repeated raising his eyebrows at her.

Fallon scowled at him. "Just start the car," she ordered. Dean laughed and put the car in drive before pulling out and heading to the library. Once there Dean sweet-talked the librarian into letting them dig through the archives. An hour and a half later Sam showed up and told them the witness's story.

"So you believe her?" Dean inquired.

"I do," Sam said.

"Yeah, I think she's hot too," Dean replied.

"Ohmigod," Fallon muttered.

"No man, there's something in her eyes," Sam insisted. "And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car."

"Wait… the body suspended?" Dean said. "That sounds like the…"

"Yeah, I know, the…"

"The Hook Man legend!" Fallon cried excitedly clapping her hands.

"You've heard of it?" Sam asked surprised.

"Who hasn't," Fallon returned. "It's one of the most famous urban legends ever,"

Dean agreed. "You don't think we're dealing with the Hook Man."

"Every urban legend has a source," Sam said. "A place where it all began."

"Yeah but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean punched out questions.

"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of a spirit?" Sam suggested.

The librarian came back into the room then with a huge boxes filled with paper. She placed them down on the table in front of them. "Here you go," she said. "These are the arrest records you asked for. They go back to 1852."

"Thanks," Dean replied giving her a charming smile.

"Sure thing," the librarian replied leaving the room again. Dean glanced at the boxes, overwhelmed.

"So this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean asked.

"Welcome to higher education," Sam replied.

"And migraines," Fallon added grabbing a stack of papers and beginning to read.

"Hey, check this out," Sam called after hours of reading through arrest records that offered no clues. "In 1862 a preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed thirteen prostitutes."

"Why is it always the prostitutes?" Fallon muttered.

Sam laughed before continuing, "Uh, right here, some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of flesh."

"And here I thought you were going to say he cut out their organs. An American Jack the Ripper," Fallon said.

"That's not funny," Sam replied.

"Hey guys, get this. The murder weapon?" Dean stated. "Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."

"Look where it all happened," Sam pointed out.

"9 Mile Road," Dean said.

"Same place where the frat boy was killed," Sam reminded them.

"Nice job, Dr. Venkmen," Dean praised. "Let's check it out."

"Alright," Sam said and they gathered up their research and gave the boxes back to the librarian.

"So what's the plan?" Fallon asked as the climbed into the Impala.

"Head out to 9 Mile Road and wait for Karns to show up," Dean explained.

"That's the plan?" Fallon cried in disbelief. "That doesn't sound full-proof."

Dean shrugged. "There's not much else we can do," he said.

"Well, what if he doesn't show up?" she questioned. "We're just gonna sit there all night bored out of our minds?"

"If we have to," Dean replied parking the car. Fallon sighed and followed the boys to the trunk of the car. Dean tossed Sam a rifle.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, rock salt," Dean enlightened.

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent," Sam muttered sounding impressed.

"Yeah. It won't kill them, but it'll slow them down," Dean said.

"Just be careful where you point that thing," Fallon said staring warily at the rifle.

"That's pretty good," Sam said admirably. "You and Dad think of this?"

"I told you," Dean said, "You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius."

"Oh yeah, you're a real Einstein," Fallon snorted. Dean opened his mouth to reply when something rustled in the bushes nearby. Sam raised his gun.

"Over there. Over there," Dean whispered to Sam to aim his gun. Fallon began to laugh when the town sheriff stepped out of the trees.

"Put the gun down now!" he yelled taking out his own handgun. "Put your hands behind your head."

"W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean protested as he and Sam did as they were told.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on do it! On your knees!" the sheriff ordered. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on do it!"

"He had the gun," Dean complained lowering himself to the ground.

Fallon laughed and sat on the hood of the Impala. "This night turned out interesting after all," she chuckled and beamed at Dean's irritated sigh. She followed the boys into the back of the sheriff's cruiser that would drive them to the station. She stuck with Sam when they split the boys up and waited for the cops to interview him. Sam sat quietly, while Fallon hummed a song of Green Day's. Before too long though the Sheriff entered the room and told them to go, that no charges were being pressed. "Well that's a relief," she sighed exasperatedly. Sam rolled his eyes at her as they walked out of the station.

"Saved your ass!" Dean called gleefully walking towards them. "Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock."

"You're something alright," Fallon muttered but shot him a smile.

"But how?" Sam asked.

"I told him you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you," Dean explained.

"And he believed you?" Sam asked amazed.

"Well, you look like a dumbass pledge," Dean teased. Sam looked like he was two seconds away from decking him when the sheriff and several other officers ran out of the building and took off in their cruisers.

"Well that can't be good," Fallon muttered. "To the Impala!"

"Really?" Dean called hurrying after her.

"Oh you know you love it," Fallon said as they followed the police cruisers a few blocks to Lori's sorority house. "Looks like your girl is involved again, Sammy."

"She is not my girl," Sam answered.

"She is for the rest of this case," Dean said parking the car.

"Why would the Hook Man come here?" Sam questioned ignoring Dean's comment. "This is a long way from 9 Mile Road."

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of the crime," Dean suggested. "Maybe it's something else."

"So what he's like me? Inexplicably free to haunt wherever he likes?" Fallon asked.

Dean opened his mouth to reply when two sorority girls rushed out of the house. Dean turned to Sam, an excited look on his face. "Dude, sorority girls!" he cried. "Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"

"What are you, fourteen?" Fallon scolded slapping him on the back of the head. "Girls don't do that in real life." Dean actually looked disappointed.

"We'll meet you inside," Sam said beginning to climb the house to the open window above the balcony. Fallon nodded and phased through the wall of the house before darting up to Lori's room. She loomed by the window just in case one of them should fall. Sam scrambled in first followed by Dean who more or less fell on top of Sam.

"Oh sorry," he said.

"Be quiet," Sam ordered.

"You be quiet!" Dean cut back.

"How about you both be quiet," Fallon muttered sarcastically.

Sam opened his mouth, but was distracted when he saw the wall behind Fallon. "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light? That's right out of the legend."

"Yeah that's classic Hook Man all right," Dean agreed. "It's definitely a spirit." Fallon made a funny little noise then and both boys turned to give her a weird look. "You alright?"

Fallon nodded an excited smile etching across her face. "Best case ever!" she cried enthusiastically, actually bouncing up and down a little.

Dean's expression became amused. "Okay simmer down. It's really not that exciting," he said.

Sam meanwhile was looking at the writing on the wall. "Hey, come here," he called over to the two of them. Fallon and Dean walked over to Sam and looked to where he was pointing. A symbol of a cross was painted under the message. "Does that look familiar to you?"

Fallon studied the odd cross for a moment before realization dawned on her. "We saw it before in our research," she murmured. "I bet we have a copy of it in the car. I'll meet you there." She popped into the Impala and began searching through the copies they'd made at the library. She found it just as the boys made it back to the Impala and handed the copy to Sam.

"It's the same symbol," Sam said nodding his head. "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"Alright, let's find this dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down," Dean suggested eagerly.

"That might be problematic," Fallon said pointed to the last section of the article.

"After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave," Sam read an annoyed look crossing his face.

"Super," Dean groaned.

"Ok," Sam said gearing up for the extra work, "so we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why."

"I'll take a wild guess about why," Dean stated.

"Oh this ought to be good," Fallon muttered.

"Funny," Dean replied sarcastically before turning back to Sam. "I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."

"Oh c'mon, Dean," Sam began to argue.

"Dean's right," Fallon said. "Lori's been present for each murder. She's connected somehow."

Sam sighed in defeat as they got back in the car. "So what now?" he asked.

"I guess we find her," Fallon replied.

"Do you know how to find her?" he questioned.

"There's a sorority party tonight," Dean answered.

"You would know that," Fallon teased but felt a little excited at the thought. "Let's go."

"Seriously?" Dean said surprised.

Fallon shrugged. "Why not? I don't really think she's going to be there, but maybe someone there can tell us."

"Alright, well, what do you say Sam?" Dean asked.

"That I'm overruled," Sam muttered.

Later that night Fallon and Dean were happily observing the party when Sam walked up to them. "Hey," he greeted.

"Man, you've been holding out on me," Dean said. "This college thing is awesome!"

"This wasn't really my experience," Sam replied.

"Let me guess," Dean returned, "libraries, studying, straight A's? What a geek. How bout you Fallon?"

Fallon smiled mischievously. "Let's just say if you couldn't find me at the pool table you'd find me in a spare bedroom." Dean and Sam both laughed. Fallon's eye was on the pool table. "And speaking of pool… if you need me I'll be over there." Fallon wondered over to the pool table and watched a kid make a skillful shot. As his friends cheered she felt a memory settle over her.

_"Oh tough luck, Fallon. You'll never make that shot," Drew Matthews said grinning, sure he'd won the game. He'd hit the eight ball just shy of the cup and his long frame would allow him a clean shot across the table. Fallon, on the other hand, could not. If she attempted the same shot she'd scratch. She was not, however, certain of her loss._

_"I wouldn't be so sure about that Drew," she replied hopping up onto the side of the pool table. She arranged the cue behind her back and smiled when she sunk the eight ball. "I'm pretty sure I just won."_

_"Oh you have to teach me how to make that shot," Drew praised as their friends cheered. Fallon laughed as her friends hedged over their bets. She was about to take a sip of her drink when she felt a tug on her arm. She turned, expecting another congratulations, but found her best friend Ann instead. To be honest she'd forgotten her friend was even there._

_"What's up?" she asked noticing her friends anxious expression._

_Ann shifted a little tucking a stray blonde hair behind her ears. "I was wondering if you were ready to go yet?" she asked eyeing the boys around the pool table wearily._

_"It's not even one yet!" Fallon exclaimed._

_"I know," Ann replied. "But things are starting to get wild. There was a fight downstairs."_

_Fallon shrugged. She wasn't ready to leave. She loved parties. "You go," she said turning back to her other friends, but Ann pulled her back around._

_"Fallon, I'm your ride," she insisted._

_"I can find another ride," Fallon pointed out._

_"Everyone else is drinking, and so are you," Ann argued. "Please Fallon can we go?" Fallon sighed. She knew Ann hated parties, but she had dragged her here anyhow. It wasn't fair to make her stay if she was this uncomfortable._

_"Okay," Fallon gave in. "Just let me go get my coat. I'll meet you in the car." Ann smiled, relieved before heading towards the stairs. Fallon said a quick goodbye to her friends at the pool table before walking down the hallway to the last door; the designated coat room. She walked over to the bed and grabbed her red parka._

_"Hello Fallon," a deep voice greeted her from the shadows._

_Fallon jumped and whirled around, eyes searching through the dark to find the source. A shadowy figure stepped closer and she finally recognized him. "Evan?" she inquired. "What the hell are you standing in the dark for? I didn't even know you were here."_

_"How could you? You've been avoiding me," he said stepping closer._

_"No I haven't," Fallon said instinctively taking a step back. That was a lie however. She had been avoiding him. Lately he'd been acting strange toward her… stranger than usual._

_"It's not nice to lie," Evan replied closing more space between them._

_"Evan," Fallon sighed quickly pushing past him and heading for the door. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach and her heartbeat was beginning to rise. "Look, we'll talk tomorrow, right now I have to go. Ann's waiting for me in the car." She had her hand on the door handle when he turned her around and pinned her to the door. She dropped her parka in her surprise. "Evan let go of me!"_

_"No, if I let you go you won't call to talk tomorrow," he insisted, his dark eyes wild._

_"Don't be ridiculous, Evan," Fallon said fighting back panic. "We can eat at The Glider okay? We'll talk."_

_"It's too late for talking!" Evan cried hysterically and then he was fiddling with the zipper on her jeans._

_"Evan what are you…" she started to ask and then realization dawned on her. "Evan, no stop!" But he continued unzipping her jeans before shoving them down to her knees. "Evan, please don't do this," she begged her voice clogged with unshed tears. She could not believe this was actually happening._

_Evan looked up at her then, staring her straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he said and then ripped her panties aside and forced two fingers inside her. But she was as dry as sandpaper and she yelped in pain from the intrusion. He continued to thrust his fingers in and out of her vagina as she begged him to stop. Fallon forced herself to take a breath as he continued to invade her body. She realized that she had more room to maneuver now that he was distracted and she managed to get her right arm free. She decked him hard in the side of his face and he stumbled back._

_"Jesus Christ!" he moaned holding the left side of his face. Fallon quickly pulled her pants back up and quickly turned to open the door when the handle turned and another person stepped into the room._

_The newcomer glanced between the two of them, a look of concern quickly crossing his face. "Is everything alright in here?" he finally asked, facing Fallon._

_"Fine," she answered sharply. "I think he's drunk. Someone should get him home." She walked past the boy then and hurried out of the frat house. It wasn't until she walked out into the cold November air that she realized she forgot her parka._

_"What took so long?" Ann complained as Fallon stepped into the car. "And I thought you were getting your coat?"_

_"I was I couldn't find it," Fallon answered fumbling with her buckle, her hands were shaking so badly. When she finally managed to buckle herself she turned and stared straight out the windshield. She could feel the weight of Ann's eyes on her._

_"Are you okay?" Ann finally asked. "You look freaked."_

_"I'm fine, okay!" Fallon snapped. "Look you're the one who wanted to leave can we just go!"_

_Ann gave her a hurt look. "Alright," she replied quietly before putting the car in drive and heading back for their shared apartment. They drove in silence the whole way. Neither of them said a word until they got home. Ann finally turned to face Fallon again. "I'm sorry I made you leave. I know you were having a good time, but there were so many people and I really don't like parties."_

_Fallon sighed sorry she'd yelled at her friend. She didn't know why she couldn't just tell her what had happened. The words were in the back of her throat, but it was like she didn't know how to make them roll off her tongue "No it's fine," she tried to reassure her. "It's not you. I just really liked that coat and I think someone must have stolen it."_

_Ann looked relieved that their fight was over. "Maybe it just got misplaced," she suggested. "I bet Drew calls tomorrow and says he found your coat."_

_"Yeah maybe," Fallon replied briskly. "Do you need the bathroom? I gotta take a shower."_

_"So late?" Ann questioned. "Why don't you just wait until morning?"_

_"I'm cold," Fallon answered pretending to shiver. "It might help me warm up a little." She walked past Ann to get to their bathroom._

_"Are you sure you're okay?" Ann called after her._

_Fallon paused at the bathroom door, the confession tumbling around in her mouth before she swallowed it down hard. "I'm fine," she replied and shut the door behind her._

"Hey," a deep voice said. A hand grabbing onto her shoulder brought Fallon back to the present. She gasped, startled, and pulled herself out of the person's grip before spinning around only to find Dean staring at her in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked taking an unsure step towards her before deciding to take a step back.

Fallon let out a shaky breath and forced a smile. "I'm fine," she replied. "You just scared me."

"Well that's gotta be the first time a ghost ever said that to me," Dean joked but he still didn't look convinced.

Fallon smiled wider. "I'm not like most ghosts," she returned. "Where's Sam?"

"He went to go watch over Lori," Dean told her getting back to business.

"So what job are we getting stuck with?" Fallon asked.

"Salt and burn," Dean replied.

"Fun," Fallon muttered following him to the Impala. "So how exactly are we going to find an unmarked grave?"

"I'll bet you anything our cross symbol is on it," Dean told her as they began driving to the cemetery.

Fallon rolled her eyes. "Let's just get his part over with," she muttered. They drove in silence until they reached their destination. "Should we split up?"

"No, we want to get and out as quickly and as quietly as possible," Dean answered. They walked back to an older section in the cemetery. Dean used a flashlight to see the stones. "Here we go," he said pointing to a headstone. Sure enough it had their cross on it.

"Let's get digging," Fallon said telekinetically digging through the dirt.

"I'm never gonna get used to that," Dean murmured as he sunk his shovel into the dirt.

"Don't complain," Fallon ordered. "I could just stand here and do nothing."

"Yeah whatever," Dean huffed and the two continued to dig until Dean's shovel thunked against the wooden coffin. "That's it. Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house."

"Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't aware I should be wearing a paper bag over my head," Fallon said testily.

Dean smiled up at her, eyes twinkling in amusement. "I meant the cute girl that still has a pulse," he chuckled.

"You are such an ass," Fallon muttered before breaking the lid of the coffin.

"Hello preacher," Dean said pouring salt and lighter fluid over the remains.

Fallon struck the match and tossed it in. "Goodbye preacher," she panned.

"We should go check in with Sam," Dean suggested.

"Maybe you'll get to see that cute girl after all," Fallon replied.

"Yeah maybe," Dean said just as his cell began ringing. "Hey we were just coming to meet up with you…hospital, why? I'm on my way."

"Hospital?" Fallon inquired concerned.

"He's fine," Dean assured her. "He and Lori just had a run-in with Hook Man."

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Fallon said and quickly teleported there. She ran frantically through the halls until she saw Sam talking to the sheriff who'd arrested them earlier.

"We were just talking," Sam was explaining. "Then Lori's dad came out. And he appeared."

"A big man? Carrying a weapon, some kind of hook?" the Sheriff replied disbelievingly.

"Yes sir," Sam replied seriously. Fallon walked up to them and Sam gave her the tiniest tip of his head to acknowledge her.

"Ever seen him before?" the Sheriff questioned.

"No sir," Sam answered.

The Sheriff sighed and put away his notepad. "Son, it seems every time I turn around I'm seeing you. I suggest you try to stay out of trouble."

"Kinda hard to do when your job requires you to run straight to it," Fallon muttered sarcastically.

She watched Sam bite back a smile as he nodded his head in agreement. "Yes sir," he told the Sheriff.

Suddenly there was a slight commotion down the hall and the three turned to see Dean trying to get past some other officers. "No, it's alright, I'm with him. He's my brother. Hey Brother!" Dean called waving cheekily. Fallon rolled her eyes.

"Let him through," the Sheriff ordered his men.

"You okay?" Dean asked Sam when he reached them.

"Yeah," Sam replied tiredly.

"What the hell happened?" Dean questioned.

"Hook Man," Sam answered.

"You saw him?" Dean asked.

"Damn right," Sam responded. "Why didn't you guys torch the bones?"

"Sam, we did," Fallon said seriously. "The guys a pile of ashes by now."

"You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" Dean inquired.

"It sure as hell looked like him," Sam returned. "And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend."

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself," Dean agreed.

"Unless we have another case of middle age blues on our hands," Fallon muttered shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the not-case.

"That's hilarious Fallon," Sam replied dryly before continuing on with his theory. "I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman."

"So what?" Dean asked like it was no big deal.

"You seriously did not just ask that," Fallon said giving him a dirty look. He just shrugged. Sam seemed to agree with Fallon on this one.

"So she's upset about it," Sam replied. "She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong you get punished for it."

"Okay, so she's conflicted," Dean voiced. "And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to the repressed emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?"

"Right," Sam said. "Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, and Dad has an affair."

"Remind me not to piss this girl off," Dean muttered and Fallon snickered. "But Fallon and I burned those bones, why didn't that stop him?"

"You must have missed something," Sam said.

"How?" Fallon asked. "We burned everything in that coffin."

"Did you get the hook?" Sam suggested.

"The hook?" Dean repeated.

"Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way it was a part of him," Sam pointed out.

"So the hook is the source of his power," Fallon said.

"So, if we find the hook…we stop the Hook Man," Sam and Dean finished together.

Fallon shook her head. "That's incredibly lame," she teased. "So what now?"

"We head back to the library and try to figure out what became of the hook," Sam answered.

An hour later they were buried back in research at the library. "Here's something," Dean called holding up a file. "Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary; Karns, Jacob personal affects: disposition thereof."

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam asked.

"Yeah maybe," Dean said before reading from the article. "Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church."

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" Sam inquired.

"Yes it is," Fallon answered. "I remember seeing the name on the sign out front."

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years," Dean said.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it?" Sam questioned. "I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?"

"I'm sure someone cleaned off the blood stains by now," Fallon retorted.

Both boys gave her a look before Dean ordered, "Check the church records." Sam fiddled through another stack of papers before finding what they were looking for.

"St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged," Sam read sighing at thre end. "They melted it down. Made it into something else."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Fallon cried in annoyance. "How come nothing ever runs smoothly?"

"Because our job sucks," Dean replied flatly, equally annoyed. "Let's just get to the church."

Fallon sighed again. "I don't suppose those records mention what it got turned into," she asked hopefully.

Sam shot her a sympathetic smile as he neatly piled their research for the librarian to put back. "Afraid not," he answered and they walked out of the library to the Impala and drove to the church.

"Alright, we can't take any chances," Dean said as they stepped out of the car and headed for the church. "Anything silver goes in the fire."

"I agree," Sam nodded. "So, Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in."

"So what else is new," Fallon muttered.

Dean smiled in amusement. "Alright, take your pick," he said to Sam. "House or church?"

"I'll take the house," Sam said.

"Okay," Dean said before a wicked smile graced his face. "Stay out of her underwear drawer." Sam scowled at him before walking away towards the house. Fallon and Dean headed to the church. "What no smartass comment?"

Fallon shrugged. "She's a preacher's daughter," she returned. "I doubt her underwear drawer is all that interesting."

"I bet yours was," Dean chuckled raising his eyebrows suggestively at her.

"You'll never know," Fallon replied as they stepped into the church. "Let's get this show on the road." The two spread out through the church, grabbing anything that looked like it could be silver. They brought their loot downstairs and tossed their load into the fire.

Sam joined them a few minutes later. "I got everything that even looked silver," he said.

"Better safe than sorry," Dean replied as Sam tossed the items into the fire.

"Do you hear footsteps?" Fallon asked staring up at the ceiling. The boys froze.

"Move, move," Dean ordered urgently and they quickly made their way back upstairs. They opened the door only to find Lori sitting alone in a pew, clearly crying. Dean nodded at Sam to go comfort her before returning to the basement of the church. Sam and Fallon both walked over to Lori.

"Lori?" Sam said softly.

Lori looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What is it?" Sam replied.

"Way to not answer her question," Fallon thought but stayed silent.

"I've been trying to understand what's been happening," Lori replied sniffling. "Why? Now I know so I'm praying for forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what?" Sam questioned confused.

"Don't you see?" Lori cried. "I'm to blame for all this. I've read in the Bible about avenging angels."

"I think you're a little off the mark," Fallon replied trying hard not to roll her eyes.

Sam nodded his head, agreeing with her. "Trust me," he said to Lori. "This guy… he's no angel."

"I was so angry at my father," Lori whispered. "Part of me wanted him punished, and then he came and he punished him."

"It's not your fault," Sam insisted.

"Yes, it is," Lori replied just as insistent. "I don't know how, but it is. I killed Rich. Taylor too. I nearly killed my father."

Fallon felt an odd prickling sensation surge through her body. It almost felt like static electricity, like friction against her skin. Confused she looked around wondering what was causing it and froze when her gaze landed on Jacob Karns. She stood up from the pew and tapped Sam on the shoulder. "We've got company," she warned just as the candles at the alter blew out on their own accord.

"Come on," Sam said quietly. "We gotta go." The three of them began to head for the basement but Hook Man's hook cut through the door. Lori screamed as Sam told her to go. The three of them ran down the aisle. Hook Man pursued and quickly caught up with them. He pushed through the door and quickly blasted Fallon away. She slammed into the opposite wall and slid down to the floor as Sam began dodging the Hook Man's blows. Sam dodged efficiently for a while, but the Hook Man managed to slash into his shoulder.

"Sam!" Fallon cried quickly getting up. The Hook Man was distracted trying to get at Sam and Lori, he didn't see her coming. Fallon lifted a hand and lifted him off the floor before sending him flying into another room. She winced at the amount of power it took. Jacob Karns was a much more powerful spirit than she was, however, and he quickly recovered. He knocked Fallon back against the wall again, this time pinning her there before dragging Lori into the other room.

Sam rushed after her. "You okay?" he asked. The Hook Man came up behind Sam before he could help Lori to her feet.

"Sam, behind you!" Fallon called. Sam whirled around but the Hook Man blasted him into a bookcase. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran up behind Hook Man who was bearing down on Lori.

"Sam drop!" Dean ordered suddenly appearing. He raised his gun and shot the Hook Man into dust.

"I thought we got all the silver," Sam said.

"So did I," Dean returned.

"Ditto," Fallon cut in stepping away from the wall, unpinned now that the Hook Man was temporarily dispatched.

"Then why is he still here?" Sam cried.

"Well, maybe we missed something!" Dean answered.

Fallon's eyes caught hold of the chain around Lori's neck. "Sam, her necklace," she pointed out.

Sam turned his head to where she was staring and saw it too. "Lori, where did you get that chain?" he asked.

"My father gave it to me," Lori replied confused.

"Is it silver?" Sam asked strained.

"Yes!" Lori cried and Sam yanked it from her neck and tossed it to Dean.

Suddenly a screeching sound started to make its way to them, and the three turned and watched a jagged line being made on the wall. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," Fallon muttered weakly. She flickered suddenly. The Hook Man's presence was draining her of power. She noticed Dean shooting her a concerned look. "We have to get rid of him. Go! Destroy the necklace!" Dean nodded his head and tossed Sam his rifle and rock salt. Sam shot at the mark in the wall. He was trying to reload the rifle when the Hook Man ripped it out of his grasp. Fallon took a step towards him, but he promptly pinned her again. She watched in horror as the Hook Man cornered Sam and Lori, but suddenly his hooked hand began to melt and he became encased in flames.

Dean reappeared glancing around the scene. Sam and Lori were huddled in the corner trying to catch their breaths. "Everyone okay?" Dean asked. The two nodded and began to climb to their feet. Dean looked over at her as she sunk weakly to the floor. She flickered again, but the annoying friction she'd felt in Jacob Karn's presence was gone.

"I'm okay," she replied weakly. "Someone better call the cops."

Shortly after the cops arrived they all went under questioning. "And you saw him too?" the Sheriff asked Dean. "The man with the hook?"

"Yes, I told you, we all saw him," Dean answered. "We fought him off and then he ran."

"And that's all?" the Sheriff panned.

"Yeah that's all," Dean replied.

"Listen, you and your brother…" the Sheriff began but Dean cut him off.

"Oh don't worry," Dean said. "We're leaving town."

"You could be more respectful towards law enforcement," Fallon said falling into step beside him as they walked to the Impala. "They're just doing their job."

"Yeah well their job interferes with mine," he returned. Fallon hummed in agreement. "How bout you? You feeling okay?"

"I'm dead, Dean. I'm not sure that question applies to me," she teased.

"You know what I mean," Dean said seriously. "I saw you in the church. It's the first time you've actually acted like a real spirit. You were flickering out in there."

Fallon sighed and turned to face him. "Fighting Jacob Karns took a lot out of me," she replied. "It takes a lot of power to fight another ghost."

"But you're okay?" Dean pressed.

"I'm fine," Fallon assured him and then smiled mischievously. "I'll be even better when we reach that four star hotel."

"Don't get your hopes up," Dean laughed. "We don't have the money for that."

"Hey a deal's a deal," Fallon shot back.

"I didn't make that deal with you," he returned.

"Sam will back me up," Fallon insisted.

"Yeah sure," Dean replied.

"Where is Sam?" Fallon asked then, glancing around for her giant friend.

"He's coming," Dean said and nodded his head to where Sam was saying goodbye to Lori. Sam eventually made his way over to them. "We could stay," Dean said. Sam shook his head and climbed into the passenger seat. Dean and Fallon shared a look before following in after him. They remained silent as they drove away.


	6. Why Did it Have to be Bugs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On this case Fallon finds herself facing her worst fear. Will she get through the encounter okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hello everyone. Sorry for the late update. I lost track of time. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Well, everyone who celebrates the holiday. Everyone else I hope you've just had a great week! I hope you enjoy the chapter and if you have time please leave a review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. All rights belong to the writers and creators of the show.

Fallon was in a bar watching Dean play pool. It was one of his unsavory ways of making money, although she had to give him props for being a very good hustler. Once his bait was caught though the gloves came out. Dean was a pretty good player and usually had no trouble defeating his opponent. Tonight, though, he seemed to have bitten off more than he could choose. Although he was ahead, having sunk all his solids, he'd missed his shot on the eight ball and had lost his turn. Unfortunately, his opponent was skilled in the game and had a good shot at sinking both his balls in before taking the winning shot. Fallon watched as he lined up his shot, and sure enough his balls were heading for their target.

Quickly, Fallon shot out her hand and stopped the one pool ball dead in its tracks. Dean smiled brightly at her and gave her a subtle thumbs up from across the table. Suddenly, both their attentions were captured by the sound of their opponent's cue snapping. "That's not possible!" he cried angrily before pointing an accusing finger at Dean. "You fixed this?"

"Dude, I was standing right here. How could I possibly have stopped the ball from going in the pocket?" Dean replied reasoning.

"I don't know how, but you did!" the other man insisted grabbing the collar of Dean's shirt.

"Buddy, listen to me you don't want to do this," Dean warned him, but the man didn't heed the warning and landed a hard punch to Dean's face. Fallon winced but didn't intercede, as she crept up behind the angry man. She quickly nabbed his wallet and pilfered the remaining fifty he had before sliding it back in the man's pocket and walking away. Dean then got into the fight pushing his aggressor off. Dean grabbed the man and landed three punches in quick succession to his face before landing a sucker punch to the gut. His opponent collapsed to the floor, fighting for breath, although he was not seriously harmed. "I warned you," Dean said turning around and grabbing the bet money from the pool table.

Fallon met Dean outside the bar and they quickly headed to the Impala, laughing gleefully along the way. "You know, we could get day jobs once in a while," Sam said as they both slid into their respective seats.

"Hunting's our day job, and the pay is crap," Dean replied buckling his seat belt.

"Yeah, but hustling pool?" Sam returned. "Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world. Especially since now we have Fallon cheating for us."

"Hey I only cheat when you two are gonna lose," Fallon pointed out.

"Hey," Dean and Sam both said offended. Fallon just shrugged.

Shaking his head Dean turned back to Sam. "Hey look man we're good at what we do. It's what we were raised to do," Dean said.

"Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked," Sam stated. Fallon closed her eyes and held her breath. Usually whenever Sam made a crack about how they were raised it lead to a fight.

Although Dean's expression immediately darkened he apparently decided to let it drop. "Yeah says you," he huffed. "We got a new gig or what?"

"Maybe," Sam conceded. "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma. It's not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."

"Ooh that sucks," Fallon said sympathetically.

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"Human mad cow disease," Sam simplified.

"Mad cow," Dean repeated. "Wasn't that on Oprah?"

"You watch Oprah?" Sam and Fallon asked, amused grins spreading across both their faces as they glanced at each other.

Dean sputters in embarrassment for a moment before pouting and changing the subject. "So this guy eats a bad burger," he stormed. "Why is it our kind of thing?"

"Good question," Fallon agreed turning to Sam.

"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration," Sam explained. "It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear, but this guy Dustin…sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

"Okay, that's weird," Dean stated.

"And gross," Fallon added.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with them both. "Now, it could be a disease, or it could be something much nastier."

"Alright, Oklahoma," Dean said starting the car. "Man, work, work, work. No time to spend my money."

"Maybe you should try saving it," Fallon pointed out.

"What would be the fun in that?" Dean replied.

"You're impossible," Fallon stated.

"For once can we just drive without you two fighting," Sam interceded.

"She started it," Dean answered.

"I did not!" Fallon shot back.

Sam sighed as their voices filled the car with insults. "It's gonna be a long drive," he moaned.

Later that day as they drove into Oasis Plains, Fallon leaned over Sam's seat and asked him who they planned to talk to first. "Some guy named Travis," he replied. "He was with Dustin when he died. "We're actually a block away from our destination."

"That must be Travis," Dean said as they rounded the corner of a street. They parked the car and approached the man doing yard work.

"Travis Weaver?" Sam called out.

"Yeah, that's right," the man named Travis said straightening up.

"Are you the Travis that worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked.

"Dustin never mentioned nephews," Travis said confused.

"Really?" Dean questioned. "Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest."

"Oh, he did?" Travis asked.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you…what exactly happened out there?" Dean inquired.

Travis shook his head. "I'm not sure," the man replied. "He fell in a sinkhole. I went to the truck to get some rope, and uh… by the time I got back…"

"What did you see?" Dean asked.

"Nothing. Just Dustin," Travis answered.

"Well that's helpful," Fallon muttered.

"No wounds or anything?" Sam prompted.

"Well, he was bleeding from his eyes and his ears, his nose, but that's it," Travis explained.

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean questioned.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are saying," Travis responded.

"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control," Sam listed. "You ever notice anything like that?

"No, but if it wasn't some disease then what the hell was it?" Travis said.

"That's a good question?" Dean replied.

"One that doesn't look like it's going to have an easy answer," Fallon sighed. "You got any new ideas, boys?"

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Travis and asking, "You know, can you tell us where this happened?" A few moments later the trio were surrounding the sinkhole that Dustin died in.

"Huh, what do you think?" Dean asked puzzled.

"I don't know, but if that guy Travis was right, it happened pretty damn fast," Sam replied.

"Too fast to be mad cow disease," Fallon added. "But I don't see anything supernatural about it."

Dean nodded in agreement. "So what?" he questioned. "Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?"

"Like a zombie?" Fallon asked. "Don't you think someone would have noticed a zombie wondering the neighborhood?"

"Not a zombie," Dean replied. "Something else."

"There'd be an entry wound," Sam said. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."

"Maybe it was just a parasite," Fallon suggested.

"Huh," Dean hummed. "Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?"

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there," Sam pointed out.

"Fine, Fallon can go down," Dean said.

"No," Fallon stated actually stumbling as she backed away from the hole.

"Oh come on you can't get hurt," Dean insisted.

"I said no, Dean. No way in hell am I going down that hole," Fallon replied crossing her arms.

Dean sighed and grabbed some rope nearby. "Looks like it's you or me, Sammy," he said.

"Dean, I am not going down that hole," Sam said.

"Alright, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" Dean taunted.

"Flip the damn coin," Sam replied.

"Alright, call it in the air…chicken," Dean said tossing the coin.

Sam snatched it out of the air. "I'm going," he stated.

"I said I'd go," Dean replied.

"I'm going," Sam said more firmly.

"Alright," Dean agreed stepping back.

Sam tied the rope around his waist before heading towards the sinkhole. "Don't drop me," he ordered before lowering himself into the hole.

"I can't believe he fell for that," Fallon muttered. "He's too easy."

"No kidding," Dean replied. They waited I silence until Sam tugged on the rope. Fallon helped Dean pull him up. "How'd it go?"

"Let's discuss it in the car," Sam said and made his way to the Impala, the other two following behind.

"Well, what's the damage?" Fallon asked as she climbed into the backseat. Sam twisted around in his seat and held open his hands, revealing beetle carcasses. Fallon screeched and frantically began trying to open the door.

"Fallon?" Sam asked concerned reaching his hand out towards her.

"Get them away from me!" she shrieked, giving up on fumbling with the lock and sinking further back into the seat. "Get them away from me!"

"The beetles?" Sam asked.

"No the Backstreet Boys," Dean replied sarcastically. "Yes, the beetles." Sam pulled his hand away hiding the beetles inside his fist. Fallon slowly relaxed and felt her breathing even out as relief overcame her.

"You want to tell us something?" Dean asked looking at her incredulously.

"I hate bugs and earthy things," she replied shivering at the thought. "Anything that buzzes or creeps and crawls freak me out. It's even worse now when I think what they're doing to my body."

"Okay, well that's morbid," Dean returned looking slightly disgusted.

"No kidding," Fallon said weakly. "Can we just get back to the case? What's so important about those…things?"

"Yeah good point," Dean cut in. "So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking Sam.

"There were no tunnels, no tracks," Sam stated. "No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but…"

"How many did you find down there?" Dean asked as a nasty vision of beetles chomping on her corpse filled Fallon's imagination.

"Ten," Sam replied.

"It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain," Dean pointed out.

"Well, maybe there were more," Sam argued.

"I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me," Dean replied.

"I agree," Fallon said. "Can we just call this case a bust and go?"

"We need more information on the area," Sam insisted, ignoring her. "We need to see if something like this has happened before."

"I know a good place to start," Dean said pointing at a sign for an open house promising a barbeque. "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how bout you?" Sam sighed and consented. "Growing up in a place like this would freak me out."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Well, manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey?' I'd blow my brains out!" Dean replied.

"That's nice," Fallon muttered.

"There's nothing wrong with normal," Sam disagreed,

"I'd take our family over normal any day," Dean stated before knocking on the door. "How bout you Fallon?"

"I wouldn't exactly call my family normal," she answered thinking of her Uncle Alfonso who refused to travel anywhere without his dead, stuffed cat, Mittens. Fallon swore she heard him talking to it once.

Just then the door opened and a middle aged man greeted them. "Welcome," he said.

"This the barbeque?" Dean inquired.

"Yeah, not the best weather, but…I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are?"

"Dean. This is Sam," Dean replied.

"I'm Fallon," Fallon greeted. "You just can't see me cause I'm dead."

"Sam, Dean, good to meet you. So, you two are interested in Oasis Plains?" Larry asked.

"Yes sir," Dean replied.

"Let me just say… we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or…sexual orientation."

Fallon's jaw hit the floor before she threw her head back and laughed. "Oh this is too good," she guffawed. "I love this guy!" She laughed even harder as she saw the looks on Sam's and Dean's faces.

"We're brothers," Dean quickly stated. Larry immediately looked embarrassed,

"Our father is getting on in years," Sam cut in helpfully. "We're just looking for a place for him.

"Great, great, we seniors are welcome too," Larry recovered. "Come on in."

"You just made my day," Fallon said as she passed Larry into the house and made her way to the backyard.

"You said you were the developer?" Sam inquired.

Larry nodded. "Eighteen months ago I was walking this valley with my survey team," he explained. "There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains."

"That's great," Sam said. They stood talking with him for a moment before being approached by a woman in an expensive looking suit.

"Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome," she greeted. "I'm head of sales. Let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or… sexual orientation."

"Oh my god I love this place!" Fallon cried laughing so hard tears rolled down her face.

Dean chuckled, completely unamused. "Right," he said. "Um…I'm gonna go talk to Larry. Okay, honey?" Fallon laughed harder when he smacked Sam's ass before walking away. Sam and Lynda soon began conversing, but Fallon blocked them out as she looked around the yard, looking for anyone who might know something about whatever was going on. Her attention was quickly caught by a young boy who had something cupped in his hands. Fallon watched as the boy placed a giant tarantula on the table. Fallon screeched and quickly clung to Sam.

Sam glanced to where Fallon was pointing before interrupting whatever Lynda was going on about. He quickly picked up the tarantula before giving it back to the young boy. "Is this yours?" Sam asked knowingly.

"You gonna tell my dad?" the boy asked.

"I don't know," Sam replied. "Who's your dad?"

"Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introduction," the boy responded bitterly.

"Ouch," Fallon said giving the spider boy some distance. "First name basis with daddy is never a good sign."

"Well, hang in there. It gets better, alright," Sam assured the boy. "I promise.

"When?" the boy inquired.

"Matthew!" a voice suddenly called out. Fallon and Sam looked over their shoulders to see Larry hurrying towards them. He quickly began to apologize to Sam. "I am so sorry about my son and his…pet."

"It's no bother," Sam replied.

"Excuse us," Larry said and took his son away.

"Remind you of anybody?" Sam asked Dean as he watched Larry lay into his son. Dean looked confused. "Dad?" Sam prompted.

"Dad never treated us like that," Dean replied insistently.

"Well, Dad never treated you like that," Sam said. "You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember?"

"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes you were out of line," Dean retorted.

"Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bow hunting," Sam stated.

"Bow hunting's an important skill," Dean argued.

"Can we not do this right now?" Fallon cut in. She always felt awkward when they started arguing over their dad. Frankly, from what she'd picked up about John Winchester, she agreed with Sam. But she saw how hurt Dean was whenever Sam dissed their father and she didn't want him to be torn up about it. She knew what Dean really wanted was just to have his family back. Hearing Sam's resentment towards their father just reminded Dean that it might never happen. For some reason she couldn't explain, Fallon couldn't stand to see Dean in that kind of pain.

"Whatever," Sam replied before asking Dean how his tour was.

"Oh it was excellent. I'm ready to buy," Dean joked and Fallon was relieved when Sam laughed. "So you might be onto something. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."

"Oh no," Fallon moaned. "You mean this is actually a case?"

"What happened?" Sam inquired.

"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this…severe allergic reaction to bee stings."

"What?" Fallon squeaked and actually jumped onto Sam's back.

Sam stumbled a little under the unexpected weight but managed to keep himself steady. "Fallon?" he questioned.

"If there are bees here I'm not staying," Fallon insisted.

Dean was giving her a half amused, half exasperated look. "Fallon, you're a ghost. You can't get stung," he said.

"I don't care! I hate bees more than any other bug," she argued.

"Fallon, look at it this way," Sam encouraged. "No bug has attacked twice"

"Yeah see?" Dean agreed. "Bees have already played their card."

Fallon clung to Sam's back for a moment longer before sliding back down to the ground. "Oh okay," she sighed. "But can we just hurry this case along?"

"As fast as we can," Dean promised.

"Let's find some place to sleep," Sam said and they hurried back to the car.

"You drive," Dean ordered. "I want to look through dad's journal, see if he ever ran into anything like this." Sam had been driving through the neighborhood for a while before Dean began speaking again. "You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?"

"Because they're all vicious," Fallon replied vehemently.

"Not that I don't value your opinion, Fallon, but I think you might be biased on this one," Dean replied.

"At least I'm not afraid of flying," Fallon muttered.

"Planes crash!" Dean cried.

"Bugs kill," Fallon returned.

"Can we just get back to the original question?" Sam cut in. "Hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations."

"Oh thank god that doesn't come with me," Fallon shuddered.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity other than Fallon, and as she pointed out, they didn't come with her," Dean stated. "Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone."

"You mean like Willard?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, bugs instead of rats," Dean theorized.

"There are some cases of psychic connections between people and animals…elementals, telepaths," Sam agreed.

"Or maybe some person gained the power to speak to animals by some magical Shaman," Fallon suggested.

"You know sometimes I worry about you," Dean said as Sam just gave her a blank stare. Fallon scowled at them both. "Larry's kid…he's got bugs for pets."

"Matt?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula," Sam agreed. "He did scare Fallon with it."

"Hey!" Fallon cried indignantly.

"You think he's our Willard?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess," Sam conceded.

Dean nodded before his face lit up excitedly. "Ooh, hey pull over there," he ordered.

"What are we doing here?" Sam asked as he parked the car in front of an empty home.

"It's too late to talk to anybody else," Dean said.

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked disbelievingly.

"I wanna try the steam shower," Dean replied. "Come on."

"It has to be better than a crappy motel, Sam," Fallon encouraged before popping into the living room of the house.

The next morning Fallon walked upstairs to see if the boys were ready only to find Sam standing in front of the bathroom door. "You ever coming out of there?" Sam yelled annoyed.

"How long has he been in there?" Fallon asked stepping up beside Sam.

Sam opened his mouth to reply when Dean called back, "What?"

"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner," he informed them.

"Hold on," Dean called again and Fallon heard the water turn off.

"Someone was found dead three blocks from here, come on," Sam urged.

Dean opened the door and popped his toweled-clad head out. "This shower is awesome," he praised before his eyes landed on Fallon. "What are you doing up here? I'm sick of you watching us as we sleep or shower."

"For the last time I do not watch you sleep," Fallon replied angrily.

"You didn't say anything about the shower," Dean pointed out.

"Dean, she just came up the stairs," Sam said. "Like me she's sick of waiting. Come on." Fallon and Sam headed to the Impala. A few minutes later Dean hopped into the driver seat and they headed for their destination.

"There's Larry," Fallon said as Dean parked the Impala. The three got out of the car and made their way to the developer.

"Hello," Larry greeted them tiredly. "You're uh, back early."

"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood," Dean said.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"You guys met, uh…Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?" Larry prompted.

"The realtor," Sam confirmed.

"Well, she uh, passed away last night," Larry explained.

"What happened?" Dean asked surprised.

"I'm still trying to find out," Larry replied. "Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now."

"It's okay," Sam assured him and they watched as Larry wandered off.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean said.

"Yeah, get in that house," Sam responded.

"See if we got a bug problem," Dean stated.

"Well you two have fun with that," Fallon said before starting to walk back to the car.

"Fallon, come on we need you to unlock the window," Dean called.

Fallon closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine," she muttered and teleported into the house. She made her way to the realtor's bedroom and quickly unlocked the window for the boys. Dean and Sam immediately began scoping the place.

"This looks like the place," Dean said looking at the chalk outline of Lynda's body. Fallon's attention was caught by a damp towel in the middle of the room. She picked it up and then screamed flinging it away from her before stumbling back into a corner.

"What?" Dean called hurrying over to her. "What happened?"

"Spiders," Sam answered picking up the towel to show a bunch of dead spiders stuck on it.

"Spiders? From Spider Boy?" Dean asked.

"Maybe," Sam answered.

"Alright," Dean said turning back to Fallon and helping her to her feet. "Let's get you outta here." He picked her up bridle style and re-exited through the window, placing her back on her feet once they were outside. "You okay now?"

"No," Fallon answered.

"We're gonna wrap this case up fast Fallon," Sam reassured her. "Promise."

"Let's just go interrogate the budding entomologist," Fallon sighed popping into the Impala. The trio drove to the bus stop and watched Matt get off the bus and start to walk off in some direction.

"Isn't his house that way?" Dean questioned.

"Yup," Sam replied.

"So where's he going?" Dean asked.

"We're gonna have to get out and follow him aren't we?" Fallon said and groaned when both boys nodded at her. The three followed Matt into the woods, where he's studying a grasshopper. "Oh great he's going to unleash one of the plagues of Egypt."

Sam gave her an amused look before walking over to Matt. "Hey Matt, remember me?" Sam greeted.

"What are you doing out here?" Matt asked suspiciously. Fallon gave the boy some props. He was smart enough to be wary of strangers anyway.

"Well, we wanna talk to you," Dean began.

"You're not here to buy a house are you?" Matt questioned. Dean paused before shaking his head. "W-wait, you're not serial killers?"

"Not of the people variety," Fallon answered as the boys laughed.

"No, I think you're safe," Sam replied reassuringly.

"So Matt, you sure know a lot about insects," Dean said.

"So?" Matt questioned defensively.

"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean inquired.

"I hear she died this morning," Matt answered slowly.

"Mm that's right…spider bites," Dean replied.

"Matt, you tried to scare her with a spider," Sam pointed out.

"Wait, you think I had something to do with it?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Well we don't think it was Spiderman," Fallon replied sarcastically.

"You tell us," Dean encouraged.

"That tarantula was a joke," Matt insisted. "Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."

"You know about those?" Sam asked surprised.

"There is something going on here," Matt answered. "I don't know what, but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something."

"I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say you don't have many friends," Fallon said as they began following him further into the woods. Sam shot her a disapproving look, while Dean forced back a smile.

"So if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad?" Sam asked. "Maybe he could clear everybody out."

"Believe me, I've tried," Matt replied. "But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me."

"Why not?" Sam inquired.

"Mostly because he's too disappointed in his freak son," Matt responded.

"Well you are a little freaky," Fallon replied.

"I hear you," Sam responded to Matt.

"You do?" Dean asked confused.

"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked ignoring Dean.

"Sixteen," Matt replied.

"Well, don't sweat it, because in two years something great's gonna happen," Sam told the boy.

"What?" Matt asked.

"College," Sam answered. "You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad." Fallon closed her eyes as red flags began to raise.

"What kind of advice is that?" Dean asked angrily. "Kid should stick with his family."

Sam glared at Dean and opened his mouth to argue when Fallon cut in, "I agree." Sam looked at Fallon surprised. "Family's important. You shouldn't tell the kid to walk away from it. You should encourage him to work out his problems with his dad. I'm sorry but that's just how I feel." Fallon would kill to be able to be with her family again, and although she understood that Sam didn't get along with his father he still had one, a fact that she was very jealous of.

Sam was silent for a few moments. "How much further, Matt?" he asked.

"We're close," Matt called back over his shoulder. They walked on for a few more minutes until they reached an open field. Fallon groaned at the sound of insects filling the air. "I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's part of an AP science class."

"You two are like peas in a pod," Dean muttered.

"What's been happening?" Sam questioned.

"A lot," Matt replied. "I mean from bees to earthworms, beetles…you name it. It's like they're all congregating here."

"Oh God," Fallon said taking a nervous step back towards the trees.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Matt answered.

"What's that?" Sam asked pointing at a thick patch of grass a few feet away. Dean grabbed a stick nearby and bean to poke around, revealing a hole.

"There's something down there," he murmured and started to reach his hand down the hole before Fallon grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Are you crazy?" she asked. "You'll get your arm bitten off." Dean gave her a look before wrenching his arm out of her grasp and reaching further into the hole. He pulled out a human skull. "Oh gross."

After dropping Matt off at his home the trio made their way to the local University. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave," Sam stated.

"Sounds like The Poltergeist," Fallon muttered.

"Maybe this is a haunting," Dean said. "Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?"

"Yeah, maybe," Sam agreed. "Question is, why bugs? And why now?"

"That's two questions," Dean stated. Fallon slapped his arm and Sam gave him a look. "Yeah, so with that kid back there….why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"

"Just, uh…I know what the kid's going through," Sam replied.

"How bout telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean shot back.

"Dean come on," Sam insisted. "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about."

"Guys, do we have to do this now?" Fallon tried to intercept, but they both ignored her.

"Just forget it, alright?" Dean said. "Sorry I brought it up."

"I respected him," Sam said bluntly. "But no matter what I did, it was never good enough."

"So what are you saying?" Dean questioned. "That Dad was disappointed in you?"

"Was?" Sam asked incredulous. "Is. Always has been."

"Why would you think that?" Dean probed.

"Because I didn't wanna bow hunt or hustle pool," Sam replied. "Because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked out family, made me the freak."

"Trust me Sammy that just makes you the normal one," Fallon said after he was done listing all the reasons that made him a good kid.

"Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride?" Sam asked. "Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house."

"I remember that fight," Dean said. "In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth."

"That's enough, Dean," Fallon ordered. "You don't always have to defend your father, especially when he's in the wrong."

"You were agreeing with me earlier," Dean argued.

"Yes, because I don't think Sam should tell the kid to run out on his family," Fallon replied. "What Matt needs to do is sit down and talk with his father. And Sam that's what you should do to when we find him."

Sam was quiet for a moment. "You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad… I don't know if he's even gonna want to see me," he said quietly.

Dean sighed and his face softened a little. "Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you," he told his brother. "Never. He was scared."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around," Dean answered. "But even when you two weren't talking he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What? Why didn't you tell me any of that?" Sam questioned.

"Well, it's a two-way street dude. You could've picked up the phone," Dean responded. "Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment."

"Yeah, I'm really curious to see who the dead guy is," Fallon muttered following after Dean.

"So, you two are students?" the professor greeted them, shaking their hands.

"Yeah, we're in your class, Anthro 101?" Sam replied.

"Oh yeah," the Professor said, although he didn't look like he recognized either boy.

"So, what about the bones, Professor?" Dean prompted.

"This is quite a find you've made," the Professor said turning his attention back to the skull. "I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American."

"Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" Sam questioned.

"Not according to the historical record, but the uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time," the Professor answered.

"That's true," Fallon stated. "If you can get me into the archives though I bet I can confirm whether any tribes ever lived here." Sam subtly nodded his head at her.

"Well, are there any local legends?" Sam inquired trying another approach. "Oral histories about the area?"

"Well…" the Professor said thoughtfully. "You know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth."

"Alright," Dean said.

"Thanks for your help, Professor," Sam said before they exited the classroom.

"This is going to be exciting!" Fallon alleged. "I've always wanted to visit a Native American Reservation."

"You are such a geek," Dean replied.

"It's fascinating," Fallon said defensively. "History is very interesting."

"To you," Dean responded.

"To many people," Fallon shot back.

"Enough you two," Sam said. "Let's just go ask around at the reservation."

They reached the reservation in an hour and were directed to a diner where they were told they would find a man who could tell them what they needed to know. "Joe White Tree?" Sam inquired as the three approached an elderly man playing cards. The man nodded but didn't reply. He didn't even look up. Sam glanced at Fallon and Dean before continuing. "We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's alright?"

"We're students from the university…" Dean started to explain, but was cut off.

"No you're not," the Native American man said. "You're lying."

Dean blinked in surprise before starting again. "Well, truth is…"

"You know who starts sentences with "truth is"?" Joe asked shuffling his cards. "Liars."

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains?" Sam intercepted the conversation. "It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley."

"I like him," Joe said looking at Dean while nodding his head in Sam's direction. "He's not a liar."

"I love this guy," Fallon laughed sitting down across from him.

"I know the area," Joe acknowledged.

"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Joe inquired.

"Something," Sam began wondering if he should tell the whole truth before continuing on. "Something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there…Native American bones."

Joe paused before looking up at Sam. "I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him," Joe said. "Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped." Fallon winced. She knew from her history classes the cruelty of the American cavalry towards the Native Americans. It had always sickened her. She listened more intensively as Joe continued his ancestors' story. "And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still alive in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."

"Insects," Dean said. "Sounds like nature to me. Six days."

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive," Joe stated before turning back to his cards.

"Why did it have to be bugs?" Fallon moaned as they all shared concerned looks.

"When did the gas company man die?" Sam asked as they exited the diner.

"Last Friday," Fallon answered.

"March twentieth?" Sam questioned. Both Dean and Fallon nodded their heads. "That's the spring equinox."

"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals," Dean stated.

"So every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger," Sam replied.

"Sounds about right," Fallon said. "The homes there should be really cheap."

"Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land," Sam groaned.

"And on the sixth night…that's tonight," Dean pointed out.

"So we're like, leaving, right?" Fallon said. Both boys turned and gave her a funny look. "Oh come on please? We don't have time to figure out the curse!"

"You don't break a curse you get out of its way," Dean replied. "We've gotta get those people out now."

"Let's make it fast," Fallon sighed. "If I hear one thing buzz I'm gonna freak."

"Try to get them by phone," Sam ordered stepping harder on the gas pedal.

Dean quickly dialed the Pike house. "Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood," he talked into the phone.

"This isn't going to work," Fallon said and sure enough Dean hangs up soon after.

"Give me the phone," Sam sighed and quickly punched in a different set of numbers. "Matt, it's Sam," he greeted changing the phone to speaker.

"Sam, my backyard is crawling with cockroaches," Matt said.

"Disgusting," Fallon cried.

"Matt, just listen," Sam ordered calmly. "You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?"

"What, why?" Matt asked beginning to panic.

"Because something's coming," Sam answered.

"More bugs?" Matt asked apprehensively.

"Yeah, a lot more," Sam replied.

"My dad doesn't listen to me in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him?" Matt asked.

"Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell him the truth, they'll just think you're nuts," Dean ordered.

"Oh that's nice, Dean," Fallon said. "Tell the kid to lie to his parents."

"Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?" Dean encouraged giving Fallon a dirty look in the rearview mirror. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, yeah okay," Matt said before hanging up. They drove faster to make sure the family had left the house, but when they pulled up outside the house it was apparent that they were still there.

"Get off my property before I call the cops," Larry said as the trio made their way to the front door.

"Mr. Pike, listen," Sam started to explain when Matt hurried outside.

"Dad, they're just trying to help," Matt insisted.

"Get in the house!" Larry yelled.

Matt ignored him and turned to Sam and Dean, and technically Fallon. "I'm sorry, I told him," he confessed.

"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean groaned.

"Don't be an ass, Dean," Fallon snapped. "Some of us still believe that honesty is the best policy."

"Look, its 12:00 AM," Sam stated. "They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late."

"Yeah you mean before the biblical storm?" Larry mocked.

"There is nothing funny about biblical storms," Fallon snapped before turning to Dean. "Please can we just go?"

Dean looked at her and then glanced at the Impala before quickly turning back to Matt's father. "Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh?" Dean questioned. "You don't think something weird's going on here?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy," Larry said. "You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now," Dean stated.

"Dad, they're right okay?" Matt insisted. "We're in danger!"

"Matt, get inside. Now!" Larry ordered.

"No!" Matt cried. "Why won't you listen to me?!"

"Because this is crazy!" Larry shouted. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"What in life makes since?" Fallon quipped frantically turning her head in every direction searching for the bugs.

"Look this land is cursed," Sam tried to explain. "People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?"

"Wait," Dean ordered and they all stood silently. "You hear it?"

Fallon actually burst into tears. "Dean!" she cried stepping closer towards him as a buzzing noise filled the night air.

"What the hell?" Larry murmured, and then jumped as the light on the front porch began zapping numerous bugs.

"Alright, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife," Dean ordered.

"Guys!" Matt cried and they all looked up at the sky which was blanketed by millions of insects. Fallon let out an ear shattering scream and buried her face in Dean's shoulder.

"Oh my God," Larry murmured.

"We'll never make it," Sam said stepping closer to Fallon and Dean.

"Everybody in the house," Dean ordered pushing Fallon forwards. "Everybody in the house, go!" They all ran for the first door, Sam and Dean practically dragging Fallon. She was so scared she couldn't get her feet to move.

"Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam asked after they were all inside.

"No, it's just us," Larry answered.

Just then his wife came in looking concerned. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" she asked.

"Call 911, Joanie," Larry ordered.

"I need towels," Dean stated.

"Uh, in the closet," Larry fumbled.

"Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on, doors, windows, fireplace, everything okay?" Sam said.

"Phones are dead," Joanie cried frantically.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines," Dean said, and Fallon moaned, backing up against the wall.

"No signal," Larry said holding up his cellphone.

"You won't get one they're blanketing the house," Dean told him standing close to Fallon. She screeched at the sound of bugs flying into the house.

"So what do we do now?" Larry questioned frantically.

"We try to outlast it," Sam replied flanking Fallon's other side. "Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise."

"H-hopefully," Fallon stuttered and began to laugh hysterically. "H-hopefully."

"I'll be right back," Dean said disappearing into the kitchen for a few moments before returning with a can of bug spray.

"Bug spray?" Larry's wife questioned disbelievingly.

"Trust me," Dean began but then paused when they all turned towards the fireplace as a terrible creaking sound could be heard.

"What is that?" Matt asked.

"The flue," Sam replied dryly.

"Alright I think everybody needs to get upstairs," Dean said just has thousands of bugs swarmed out of the fireplace. Fallon screeched and ran towards the stairs with the others. Dean flicked his lighter open and sprayed the bug spray, scorching as many as he could. They all rush to the attic and shut the door behind them, but the buzzing grows louder.

"Bees," Fallon whispered stepping closer to Dean. "Those are bees."

"Oh, God, what's that?" Larry's wife cried.

"Something's eating through the wood," Dean answered.

"Termites," Matt replied.

"Alright, everybody get back!" Dean ordered, just as the ceiling gave way. Thousands of bees swarmed the room. Dean and Sam frantically tried to swat the bees away but were quickly overwhelmed. They stumbled back into the corner with the Pikes. Dean wrapped his arms around Fallon, shielding her from the bees. She grabbed hold of Sam's hand and closed her eyes, desperate for it all to end, when suddenly it did. Fallon blinked and glanced around the room. The bees were gone. All the bugs were gone. Dean slowly let go of her.

"Its morning," Fallon said and then fell to her knees on the ground.

Later that morning the trio drove back to the house to check on the Pikes only to find a moving van in the drive way. "What, no goodbye?" Dean called getting out of the car and heading towards Larry.

"Good timing," Larry greeted, looking genuinely happy to see them. "Another hour and we'd have been gone."

"For good?" Sam asked shaking Larry's hand.

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found," Larry explained. "But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again."

"You don't seem to upset about it," Sam stated.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but," Larry said glancing over at his son who was tossing something in the trash, "somehow, I really don't care." While Larry went back to packing and Sam went to tell Matt goodbye, Fallon and Dean headed back to the Impala.

"You alright?" Dean asked. Fallon opened her mouth to reply, but could only shake her head as tears pooled in her eyes. Dean grabbed her hand and squeezed. "No more bugs, I promise. We'll never take on a case like this again."

Fallon nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks," she murmured, before wiping away her tears.

Sam walked back over to them then and the three watched Larry and Matt, who seemed to have patched up their relationship. "I wanna find Dad," Sam stated.

"Yeah, me too," Dean agreed.

"Yeah, but I just… I want to apologize to him,' Sam admitted.

"For what?" Dean asked.

"All the things I said to him," Sam answered. "He was just doing the best he could."

"Well, don't worry. We'll find him," Dean assured him, although Fallon thought he was trying to reassure himself too. "And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats."

"That sounds familiar," Fallon muttered thinking of her own mother who she'd often butted heads with.

"Yeah, probably," Sam laughed. "Let's hit the road."

"Let's," Dean agreed before tossing Sam the keys. "You drive. I'm gonna sit in the back with Fallon. Just in case any bugs got into the car."

"Oh don't tell me that," Fallon sighed sliding into the seat.

"What?" Dean asked. "I can't have you freaking out back here while Sam's trying to drive."

"Oh please I would not freak out," Fallon retorted.

"Come on, you were practically hysterical last night," Dean countered.

"I was not!" Fallon cried.

"Were too," Dean taunted.

"Was not!" Fallon shot back.

"Seriously?" Sam cried over the two of them but they paid him no mind.

"You were too,"

"It's gonna be a long drive," Sam muttered.


	7. Connected to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sam starts experiencing visions it leads the trio back into the boys' dark past. Fallon finds herself facing a powerful foe while also struggling to keep the boys from falling apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Technically I'm a little late getting this up. Got caught up in The Mandalorian. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you have time please leave a review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. All rights belong to the writers and creators of the show.

"Alright, I've been cruising some websites," Dean announced and Fallon glanced up from the seat across from him. She'd been staring out the window patiently waiting for him to find a new case.

"Any bites?" she asked.

"I think I found a few candidates for our next gig," he told her. "Hey Sam listen up! A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali…its crew vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas." Dean looked up and over at Sam. Fallon followed his gaze and frowned when she saw Sam was not paying any attention. "Hey!" Dean called and Sam looked up from whatever he was drawing. "Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?"

"No, I'm listening," Sam said sounding distracted. "Keep going."

Dean sighed but continued listing possible jobs. "And, here, a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times," he added looking over at Sam again and then glared when he realized Sam's attention had returned to his drawing.

Fallon walked over to Sam and glanced at the drawing over his shoulder. It was a picture of a tree. Fallon frowned, puzzled. "Hey, Sam," she said. "Any of these cases sound interesting to you?"

Sam lifted his picture to eye level and stared at it thoughtfully. "Wait, I've seen this before," he said excitedly.

"Seen what?" Dean asked annoyed.

"A tree," Fallon answered him. "Unsurprisingly he's seen a tree before." Sam ignored her as he got up and began rummaging through his duffel bag.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

Sam dug out an old picture and began comparing his drawing to it. "Sam, are you okay?" Fallon asked. "You're acting strange."

"Guys, I know where we have to go next," Sam said ignoring both their questions.

"Where?" Dean asked exasperated.

"Back home. Back to Kansas," Sam answered.

"Sure, just let me find my ruby slippers," Fallon replied sarcastically.

Dean looked just as surprised as she was. "Okay, random," Dean said. "Where'd that come from?"

Sam planted the photo he'd been looking at in front of them. "Alright, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right?" Sam replied. "The house where Mom died?"

"Yeah," Dean answered still looking confused.

"And it didn't burn down, right?" Sam inquired. "I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?"

"I guess so, yeah," Dean answered.

"Sam, where are you going with this?" Fallon questioned.

"Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy, but…the people who live in our old house…I think they might be in danger," Sam blurted out.

"Are you on something?!" Fallon asked concerned.

"Why would you think that?" Dean inquired.

"Uh, it's just, um… look, just trust me on this, okay?" Sam urged before walking away.

"Wait," Dean ordered getting up and following after him. "Trust you?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"Come on man, that's weak," Dean responded. "You've gotta give me a little bit more than that."

"I can't really explain it is all," Sam sighed.

"Well try, Sam," Fallon ordered. "We've got to have a reason to go."

"I'm not going anywhere until you do," Dean said seriously.

Sam glanced back and forth between the two of them. He sighed. "I have these nightmares," Sam told them.

Dean nodded. "I've noticed," he answered. Fallon, however, was shocked. Sam normally told her everything. They had no secrets between them. She was surprised he'd never mentioned this before. If she had known he was still having nightmares she would have tried to help him.

"And sometimes," Sam started before pausing, "they come true."

Dean blinked in surprise. "Come again?" he choked.

"Sam, what do you mean they come true?" Fallon questioned.

"Look…I dreamt about Jessica's death-for days before it happened," Sam admitted.

"Sam, people have weird dreams, man," Dean reassured him. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"No," Sam replied insistently. "I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything about it because I didn't believe it."

"Well, who would?" Fallon asked reasonably.

"Yeah, but now I'm dreaming about that tree," Sam replied. "About our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started guys, this has to mean something right?"

Dean looked absolutely horrified. "I don't know," he answered looking like Sam had kicked him in the balls.

"What do you mean you don't know, Dean?" Sam asked. "This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica!"

"Sam, I think you might be grasping at straws," Fallon cautioned.

Her words spurred Dean into action. "She's right. Just slow down would ya?" Dean said. "I mean first you tell us you've got the Shining? And then you tell me I've gotta go back home? Especially when…" Fallon glanced over at Dean then, who looked dangerously close to falling apart. She felt her heart bleed for him then and went to stand beside him, placing a hand on his arm.

"When what?" Sam asked gently.

"When I swore to myself that I would never go back there," Dean answered.

"Look, Dean," Sam said softly, "we have to check this out. Just to make sure."

Dean sighed before answering. "I know we do," he replied. The three quietly packed up shop before getting back on the road. Sam, had offered to drive but it was apparent that Dean needed something to distract himself with. For once they drove quietly to their next destination.

As they pulled up in front of Sam and Dean's old house Sam asked, "You gonna be alright, man?"

"Let me get back to you on that," Dean answered stepping out of the Impala. They made their way to the front door and knocked.

A few moments later a woman opened the door. "Yes?" she asked.

"Sorry to bother you ma'am but we're with the Federal…" Dean began but Sam cut him off.

"I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother, Dean," Sam greeted the woman. Fallon glanced at him in surprise. They almost never used their real names. "We used to live here. You know, we were just driving by and we were wondering if we could come see the old place."

"Winchester," the woman repeated slowly. "Yeah, that's so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other night."

"You did?" Dean asked surprised.

The woman stepped aside. "Come on in," she invited, and the three stepped across the threshold. As the boys followed Jenny into the kitchen, she quickly ran up the stairs, drawn by the same friction she had felt when they sought Hook Man. As she reached the top of the stairs the friction only got stronger.

"Who's there?" she called, but received no answer. She took a step forward before being repelled back into a wall. Quickly, she hopped back to her feet and ran towards the source of her attacker. Upon entering the bedroom, which must've belonged to a little girl, she was overwhelmed by the other spirit. The bedroom door slammed shut behind her, and Fallon whirled around, but she was too late to defend herself. The spirit once again lashed out at her and she flew through the air. She was just able to phase through the wall before landing in the yard below.

Her surprise quickly turned to anger and the world tinted red. She quickly teleported back into the little girl's room where the spirit was waiting for her. "Big mistake," she said and sent the spirit flying into the hall. The other spirit was powerful, though, even more so than the Hook Man had been, and it didn't help that she couldn't see it. She could only sense its presence as it reentered the room, and it quickly began to overwhelm her. She began to flicker from all the spirit's energy pressing in on her when the closet door swung open, and then the next second the spirit attacking her fled.

Fallon stood panting, trying to make sense of it all. She took a few tentative steps into the closet, but nothing happened. She still felt the presence of another spirit, however she no longer felt any animosity towards her. "Hello?" she said softly. "Is anyone here?" There was no reply. Growing increasingly alarmed, Fallon thought back on the fight. How had the closet door opened? Although Fallon had made objects move on accident before, it hadn't happened in quite a while, especially since she teamed up with the Sam and Dean and used her abilities more. But that didn't mean she couldn't have lost control now. Still, she was almost certain she hadn't opened the closet door, and the opening of the door didn't explain why her attacker had fled.

"Could there be two spirits here?" she thought. "And should I tell Sam and Dean?" After a few moments of consideration she decided against it. She didn't know for sure that there was more than one spirit here, and she didn't want to mess up this case. This case was personal to both boys and she didn't want to cause them any added stress. Her decision made, she walked back downstairs to find the boys leaving. She followed them out of the house and to the Impala. The boys hadn't seemed to have noticed she had left them for a few minutes.

As they walked down the walkway Sam said, "You hear that? A figure on fire?"

"And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Dean inquired.

"Yeah," Sam answered. "And you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit. Fallon, did you see anything when you went upstairs?"

"No," Fallon replied shaking her head. "But there is definitely something there. I felt it the moment I walked in."

"Yeah, well I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are coming true," Dean stated bluntly.

"Well forget about that for a minute," Sam asserted. "The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?"

"I don't know!" Dean cried.

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" Sam questioned.

"Or maybe it's something else entirely," Dean sighed. "Sam, we don't know yet."

"Well, those people are in danger, Dean," Sam said, "We have got to get them out of that house."

"And we will," Dean assured him.

"No, I mean now," Sam insisted.

"And how could we possibly manage that?" Fallon asked. "We can't tell them the truth."

"Do you have a story that they're gonna believe?" Dean added.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked as the pulled up to a gas station.

"We just gotta chill out, that's all," Dean told him. "You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?"

"We'd try to figure out what we were dealing with. We'd dig into the history of the house," Sam said.

"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened," Dean replied.

"Yeah, but how much do we know?" Sam questioned. "I mean, how much do you actually remember?"

"About that night you mean?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"Not much," Dean admitted. "I remember the fire…the heat. And then I carried you out the front door."

"You did?" Sam said surprised.

"Yeah, what, you never knew that?" Dean asked.

"No," Sam said.

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do," Dean continued. "Mom was…was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her."

"But what did it?" Fallon asked. "Your father is supposedly one of the best hunters out there. Doesn't he at least have some idea what did it?"

"If he does he's kept it to himself," Dean answered her. "God knows we asked him enough times."

"Okay, so if we're gonna figure out what's going on now we have to figure out what happened back then," Sam reasoned. "And see if it's the same thing."

"What are the chances of that though," Fallon queried. "I mean it left after it killed your mom, why would it come back now?"

"I don't know, but we have to start somewhere," Dean replied. "We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time."

They were all silent for a moment until Sam asked. "Does this feel like just another job to you?"

Dean didn't reply right away. Fallon watched him fiddle his thumbs for a moment before he replied, "I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." Fallon watched him turn the corner before turning to Sam who nodded his head for her to follow him. Fallon quickly made her way around the building and crept quietly up behind him. She watched him pull out his cellphone and make a call.

"Dad?" she heard him say, and she could hear the desperation in his voice. "I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you'll get them. But I'm with Sam…and we're in Lawrence. And there's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not but…" Fallon took a step closer as she heard his voice broke but did not interrupt. "I don't know what to do," Dean admitted. "So, whatever you're doing, if you could just get here. Please. I need your help, Dad."

He hung up the phone and turned around, then blinked in surprise to see her right behind him. Dean opened his mouth to say something, but she just wrapped her arms securely around his neck, standing on her toes to reach. She felt him hesitate for a second before he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. "It'll be okay," she whispered stroking his hair, gently. "We're gonna finish up this case and then I promise you you'll never have to come back here again." Dean nodded and held her tighter. They stayed like that another minute before Dean's hold on her relaxed and she stepped back. "Come on. Let's get back to Sam," she said and lead the way to the Impala.

They walked back to the car together to find Sam on his laptop. "We're back," Fallon greeted and Sam looked up at them. "Got any new leads."

"Well I think we're just going to have to talk to people who knew our dad," Sam replied. "Maybe he said something after the fire about something being in the house."

"I never heard him say anything like that," Dean said.

"We don't have anything else to go off of Dean!" Sam exclaimed. "This is the only thing I can think of."

"Okay fine," Dean sighed. "Where do we start?"

"Where did your dad work?" Fallon asked. "Maybe he spoke with a coworker about something odd going on with the house."

"He was a mechanic," Dean replied. "He worked with at least one other guy."

"Well, let's go talk to him first," Fallon said before sliding into the backseat. A few minutes later and they pulled up to a repair shop, and had ran their usual spiel to the owner, Guenther.

"So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah, we used to," Guenther replied. "That was a long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be twenty years since John disappeared. So why the cops interested all of a sudden?"

"Oh, we're re-opening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them," Dean replied easily.

"Well what do you want to know about John?" Guenther questioned.

"Well whatever you remember, you know, whatever sticks in your mind," Dean supplied.

"Well…he was a stubborn bastard, I remember that," Guenther chuckled.

"What a surprise," Fallon muttered. The boys didn't talk about him too much, but what she'd heard from them she almost hoped they never found him.

"But, oh, he sure loved Mary, and he doted on those kids," Guenther continued.

"But that was before the fire," Sam prompted. "He ever talk about that night?"

"No, not at first," Guenther replied immediately somber. "I think he was in shock."

"But eventually?" Sam urged. "What did he say about it?"

"Oh he wasn't thinking straight," Guenther said almost dismissively. "He said something caused that fire and killed Mary."

"He ever say what did it?" Dean asked.

"Nothing did it," Guenther answered. "It was an accident. An electrical short in the ceiling or walls or something. I begged him to get some help, but…"

"But what?" Dean asked.

"He just got worse and worse," Guenther informed. "He started reading these strange books. He started going to see this palm reader in town."

"You're kidding?" Fallon said. "There's palm readers in Kansas?" Sam shot her an amused look.

"Palm reader? Do you have a name?" Dean asked. Guenther shook his head no.

"Well thank you for your time," Sam said and the three headed back to the Impala.

"So your dad did think something was in your house," Fallon said.

"Yeah, but the question isn't whether something was there twenty two years ago the question is what's there now and is it the thing that killed our mother?" Sam replied.

"That's going to be hard to prove," Fallon sighed,

"Well you felt the spirit in the house, Fallon," Dean said. "Couldn't you tell how old it was?"

"It's old, but I can't be sure how old," she replied. "But I do know it's powerful."

"We need to find the palm reader Dad saw," Dean stated.

"Well, to do that we're going to need a phonebook," Sam said.

"Well, I think I know where we can find a payphone," Fallon replied pointing across the street. The three walked towards the payphone and Sam picked up the phonebook and began flipping through it.

After a few moments he chuckled in amusement. "Alright, so there are a few psychics and palm readers in town," Sam told them. "There's someone named El Divino. Uh, there's the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky."

"Obviously fake," Fallon snorted. "Keep going."

"There's a Missouri Moseley…"

"Wait, wait. Missouri Moseley?" Dean interrupted.

"What?" Sam asked confused.

"Does that name ring a bell?" Fallon inquired hopefully.

"That's a psychic?" Dean asked.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so," Sam answered confused as Dean began to search frantically for something in the backseat of the car.

He stood back up with John's journal. "In Dad's journal…" Dean murmured flipping through pages before turning it towards Sam and Fallon, "here, look at this. First page, first sentence, read that."

"I went to Missouri and I learned the truth," Fallon read but still felt as confused as ever. "Care to explain?"

"I always thought he meant the state," Dean replied shrugging.

"Well that would be the obvious answer," she retorted before sighing. "Alright…let's go get our palms read."

"Well, this is the address," Sam said as Dean parked the car by the curb.

"Let's just hope this gets us the answers we're looking for," Dean sighed stepping out of the car. The three made their way to the front door. Dean reached up to knock, but the door opened first.

"I thought you might be coming," an African American women greeted them. Fallon blinked in surprise. The woman looked nothing like what she'd picture a "psychic" to look like. She didn't have any bangles on her wrists or wear a scarf over her head. She just looked like your average middle aged woman. "You're going to have to wait. I've got a customer before you." The three of them followed her into the house and sat on the couch she pointed to before she left them to take care of her other customer.

"Okay, I'm actually a little impressed," Fallon said.

"She probably heard us pull up," Dean replied dryly.

"Not about that," Fallon replied. "She seems perfectly normal. You know not like your typical scam artist."

Suddenly a door opened and the trio saw Missouri and a man emerge in the hallway heading for the door. "Alright there, don't you worry about a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," Missouri said before closing the door and turning to face them. "Whew! Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean questioned.

"Well who wants to hear that?" Fallon snapped exasperatedly. "What do you want her to be like 'You'll live a long life, and oh, yeah, your wife is cheating on you?' Honestly!"

"You're girl beside you is right," Missouri replied. "People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news." All three of their jaws hit the ground.

"You can see me?" Fallon asked amazed.

"No, but I can hear you," Missouri answered. "That's just another aspect of my gift. You aren't the only spirit I've ever encountered." She then smiled before looking over the two boys. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome. And you were a goofy-lookin' kid too," Missouri said looking at Dean.

"Ha!" Fallon laughed out loud.

Missouri suddenly grew serious. "Sam, oh honey, I'm sorry about your girlfriend," she said. "And your father…he's missin'?"

"How'd you know all that?" Sam questioned.

"Well, you were just thinkin' it just now," Missouri replied.

"Well, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean cut in impatiently.

"I don't know," Missouri answered.

"Don't know?" Dean asked growing angry. "Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?"

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half?" Missouri replied offended. "You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please." As the three sat down on the couch Missouri scowled at Dean. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm a whack you with a spoon!"

"Oh my God! I love her!" Fallon laughed. "I will happily whack him for you. He's a pain in my ass."

Dean glared at both of them. "I didn't do anything," he protested.

"But you were thinking about it," Missouri stated, and Dean glowered. "So behave or I'll let your friend have a go at ya."

"Okay," Sam cut in. "So, our dad…when did you first meet him?"

"He came for a reading," Missouri replied. "A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say…I drew back the curtains for him."

"What about the fire?" Dean prompted. "Do you know about what killed our mom?"

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house," Missouri told them. "He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"And could you?" Sam asked.

Missouri suddenly looked disturbed. "I…"

"What was it?" Sam asked eagerly.

Missouri shook her head. "I don't know," she answered. "Oh, but it was evil." She looked over the three of them. "So…you think somethin' is back in that house?"

"Definitely," Sam replied.

Fallon nodded. "I felt it," she said. "It's powerful."

"I don't understand," Missouri murmured shaking her head.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet," Missouri informed them. "No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?"

"I don't know," Sam answered. "But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once…it just feels like something's starting."

"That's a comforting thought," Dean said sarcastically.

"We need to get back to that house," Missouri stated.

Twenty minutes later the boys, Fallon, and Missouri were at the door of the house and knocked on the door. A moment later Jenny, looking upset, opened the door. "Sam, Dean," she said sounding strained. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Jenny," Sam greeted. "This is our friend Missouri."

"If it's not too much trouble," Dean said hurriedly before the woman could interrupt, "we were hoping to show her the old house. You know for old time's sake."

"You know this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy," Jenny replied.

"Listen, Jenny, it's important," Dean started but was cut off with a sharp smack to the head by Missouri.

"Man, I love this woman," Fallon laughed. "She does a better job telling you what an ass you are than I do."

Dean turned to glare at her as Missouri began scolding him. "Give the poor girl a break," she admonished. "Can't you see she's upset? Forgive this boy, he means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, but hear me out."

"About what?" Jenny asked as Fallon laughed heartily at Dean's expense.

"About this house," Missouri replied.

"What are you talking about?" Jenny asked growing more upset.

"I think you know what I'm talking about," Missouri said softly. Fallon thought so too. There was genuine fear in the woman's eyes. She could tell that something had happened. Missouri continued to question the woman. "You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?"

"Who are you?" Jenny asked.

"We're people who can help. People who can stop this thing," Missouri told her. "But you're gonna have to trust us just a little. Jenny still looked unsure.

Fallon stepped forward closer to Jenny. "You can trust us," she said. "We wanna help you." To her shock Jenny looked right at her. Fallon smiled at her. The woman opened her mouth before blinking in surprise. Finally Jenny turned back to the rest of the group. "You can come in. Do whatever you need to do."

"Thank you," Missouri replied. "We'll make things better for you." Jenny stepped back to let them in, and Fallon immediately felt the presence of the spirit again. The energy that was pressing in on her was almost intolerable, and much like last time she felt that the spirit did not want her there. She kept a small distance between her boys and Missouri in case the spirit attacked her again as they made their way to Jenny's daughter's bedroom.

"If there's a dark energy around here this room should be the center of it," Missouri stated as they entered the child's bedroom.

"Why?" Sam asked curiously.

"This used to be your nursery, Sam," Missouri told him. "This is where it all happened." A weight seemed to settle over them as they took in her words. Fallon saw Sam glance up at the ceiling. She turned to make sure Dean was okay. He was looking down fiddling with something before pulling an object out of his pocket. "Is that an EMF?" Missouri asked.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"Amateur," Missouri snorted. Fallon chuckled at the dark look Dean shot the older woman. The EMF itself was going off like crazy, something both boys noticed. "I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your mom."

"Wait, are you sure?" Sam asked sounding surprised. Missouri nodded her head. "How do you know?"

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here," Missouri replied. "It's something different."

"What is it?" Dean questioned.

"Not it," Missouri responded. "Them. There's more than one spirit in this place."

"There's more than one?" Sam asked. "That can't be right."

"No, she's right," Fallon said stepping closer to the middle of the room. "I thought so when we came here the first time. There's just so much energy. While you boys were talking with Jenny in the kitchen I went up the stairs. I was following the energy. The spirit attacked me as I tried to come in here. It was just about to finish me off when the closet door opened on its own. Whatever was in the closet scared whatever was attacking me off."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Dean asked angrily.

"Because I wasn't sure," Fallon replied sighing. "I'm still pretty new to this whole ghost power stuff. I thought maybe I did it by accident. And I know this case is personal for you two, and I didn't want to make you upset over nothing if I was wrong. I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"It's alright," Sam assured her. "I'm just glad the closet door did open. It probably saved you."

"Yeah but…what are they doing here?" Dean asked.

"I'd like to know myself," Fallon added. "If neither spirit killed their mom why are they here?"

"They're here because of what happened to their family," Missouri answered turning to look at Sam and Dean. "You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds. And sometimes, wounds get infected."

"I don't understand," Sam said.

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy," Missouri explained. "It's why your friend here was drawn to this room the second she walked in the house. And as you already know she isn't the only spirit that's drawn to the place. It's attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead. And Fallon isn't exaggerating when she said that it wants her out of the house." The woman shuddered. "With all the energy it's throwing at you right now, I'm surprised you haven't fled."

"I think that's what it wants me to do," Fallon admitted. "The other spirit that's tied to the closet backed me up the last time. I think the poltergeist is waiting for me to get isolated."

"Well that's not happening," Dean stated walking over to stand directly in front of her. "Ain't no poltergeist getting at you." Fallon blushed and smiled.

"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she teased.

"Shut up," Dean grumbled in reply.

"You said there was one more spirit," Sam inquired. "From what Fallon's said it haunts the closet."

"Missouri nodded. "I just can't quite make out the second one," she replied. "Fallon, can you?"

"I can tell there's one there, but I don't know what it wants. Not the way I normally do," Fallon said. On other hunting jobs that involved ghosts she'd been able to feel what the ghost wanted. On a few cases she'd even been able to communicate with them, but this spirit was giving her no clues. The poltergeist had been obvious from the beginning. He wanted Jenny and her family out of the house. He really wanted Fallon out of the house. But this other spirit…she was getting no clues.

"Well there's one thing for damn sure…nobody's dyin' in this house ever again," Dean stated firmly. "So whatever is here, how do we stop it?"

"I have an idea for that" Missouri replied. "Sam, be a dear and go get my bag from your car."

"Yes ma'am," Sam replied leaving the room.

Missouri turned to Dean then. "We need to get Jenny and her kids out of the house for the night," she said. "We should get your friend out too."

"Why?" Dean asked. "Look I know she's a pain, but we're a team."

"I'm a pain?" Fallon asked incredibly.

"Boy, the only pain in this room is you," Missouri said firmly. "I want your friend out of the house because she's no safer here than Jenny and her kids. That poltergeist is waiting for the right moment to attack, and although your friend here is pretty strong…the poltergeist is stronger. Not to mention my plan to get rid of these spirits will vanquish her as well."

Dean gulped before turning to face Fallon. "Get out the house and wait out front for Jenny and her family," Dean ordered. "You're going to keep an eye on them."

"Okay," Fallon replied heading for the door. She paused before she exited though, and turned back around and faced Missouri. "Did she see me before? On the porch?"

"Yes," Missouri replied. "With all the paranormal activity going on in this house she's more perceptive than most people to supernatural right now."

"Will she see me following them around?" Fallon asked.

"No, it's unlikely," Missouri replied. "Away from this house it's unlikely you'll be able to break through again." Fallon nodded her head and teleported to the front yard. She only had to wait fifteen minutes before Jenny and her kids walked out of their house.

"Mommy, what movie are we going to see?" Jenny's little girl Sari asked excitedly.

"Whatever movie you want to see," Jenny replied buckling her son into his car seat.

"Chicken Little!" Sari exclaimed. Fallon groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long night.

About three hours later, after suffering through the kids' movie Chicken Little and a dinner at McDonalds Fallon was happy to finally get back to the boys' old home with Jenny and her kids. She had forgotten how annoying it was to be invisible to other people and was eager to be able to get back to the people who actually could see and hear her. Following Jenny into the house she stopped short when she came to the kitchen. "Wow, you guys really made a mess of the place," she said glancing around at the plaster dust covered floors and counters and the overturned furniture. The refrigerator's contents were spilled out on the floor. Jenny, too, was looking around at her kitchen in dismay.

"What happened?" she exclaimed.

"Hi, sorry," Sam greeted sheepishly. "Um, we'll pay for all of this."

"Don't you worry," Missouri assured Jenny. "Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Dean gawked at her, not asking a move to start cleaning anything. "Well, what are you waiting for boy? Get the mop. And don't cuss at me!" Fallon chuckled under her breath and followed after Dean as he began digging through a closet for a mop.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned. She hadn't liked leaving them to face the poltergeist alone. She had felt just how dangerous it had been.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little banged up," Dean replied. "Damn thing really didn't want to be vanquished."

Fallon nodded her head. "Are you sure you and Sam are okay?" she pressed further.

Dean glanced at her then as he turned around with a mop in hand. "We're fine, Fallon," he assured her before heading back to the kitchen. "How was the movie?"

She groaned. "Ugh, that's the last time I babysit anyone for you," she whined. Dean just chuckled as he began to mop up the floor. An hour later and Fallon and her group left the house after saying goodbye to Jenny and her family. "I'm glad this is all settled for them."

"Yes, they're a nice family," Missouri said as they got in the car. It was a silent ride back to her house. Missouri and the boys were too exhausted to hold much of a conversation. Missouri sighed as they pulled up to her house. "It was nice seeing you boys again."

"Yeah, it was great," Sam replied.

"Yeah great," Dean said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Boy, you better watch your tone," Missouri warned before glancing at the backseat. "Fallon, you watch after this boy here. I think he needs to learn his place."

"You got it Missouri," Fallon laughed. "It was nice meeting you." Missouri nodded her head in reply and closed the car door. The boys waited for her to enter her home before Dean put the Impala in drive.

"Alright, now that this nightmare is over with, let's get the hell out of here," Dean said as they drove down the road.

"Dean, wait let's go back to Jenny's house," Sam said.

"What? Why?" Dean asked.

"I just wanna keep an eye on the place," Sam replied, but Fallon had the feeling that there was more to it. Dean sighed, but didn't argue and they drove back and parked in front of the house.

They had been watching the house for about two hours when Dean finally had enough and asked, "What are we still doin' here?"

"I don't know," Sam replied agitated. "I just… I still have a bad feeling."

"Why?" Dean asked. "Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing, the house should be clean, it should be over. Fallon, did you feel anything when you got back to the house with Jenny and her kids?"

Fallon shook her head. "No, I didn't," she replied. "Sam, I think this is over."

"Yeah, well probably," Sam answered. "But I just wanna make sure, that's all." Fallon and Dean both sighed and sat back in their seats. Dean muttered something about being in an actual bed before leaning against the car door. Fallon was just about to wonder off into a daydream when she heard a scream coming from the house.

"Dean! Look Dean!" Sam cried calling his brother awake. They all turned to see Jenny screaming for help in the window of her upstairs bedroom.

"Oh my god!" Fallon exclaimed before teleporting out of the car and onto the front porch before phasing through the door. She was immediately hit by the paranormal energy of the poltergeist, and she could tell it was angry. The boys ran into the house then and began to up the stairs.

"Fallon, we need you to try and hold the spirit off of us!" Dean shouted.

Fallon nodded her head and ran up the stairs behind them. "I can do that!" she said. The boys had just cleared the landing when she felt the poltergeist go to attack them. "Oh no you don't!" She raised her arms out in front of her and focused all her energy on pushing the poltergeist back, and forming a barricade around the boys. "Hurry guys! I won't be able to keep you barricaded for long!" she urged, already feeling her power being drained. She watched as Dean broke down the door and pulled out a scared Jenny.

"No, my kids!" Jenny protested and Dean pulled her to the stairs.

"Sam's got your kids, come on," Dean ordered as they began to descend the stairs. Dean glanced back at her, concern clear on his face.

She smiled back at him. "I'm okay," she panted as she continued to focus on her barrier. "Just get out of here." She turned back to the hall and nearly buckled as she felt the poltergeist attack her barrier. "C'mon Sam." She felt herself begin to fade and flicker and her barrier came down just as Sam exited his old nursery carrying Sari and her little brother Ritchie. "Sam, you've gotta hurry the barrier's down."

Sam nodded his head in understanding and they both rushed down the stairs. Sam put Sari down and handed her brother over to her. "Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back," he ordered before being slammed to the ground and dragged to another room.

"Sam!" Fallon cried as the little girl screamed and fled the house with her brother. Fallon ran after Sam, who had crashed into the kitchen table. She was able to pinpoint exactly where the poltergeist was. "You stay away from him!" She gathered the rest of her power and flung it at the evil spirit, actually managing to knock it back a little. But she didn't stand a chance again something so powerful. The poltergeist knocked her back, its energy washing over her like an ocean's wave and she skidded across the kitchen floor before being pinned to the wall. She struggled to free herself, but all her power had been expended and she couldn't do anything but watch as the evil spirit slammed and pinned Sam to the wall across from her. Fallon's fear increased when she felt the second spirit enter the room before materialized into a figure surrounded in flames. She watched in horror as the figure made its way slowly towards Sam.

"Sam?" she suddenly heard Dean calling. "Sam! Fallon!"

"We're in here!" Fallon called. She heard Dean's footsteps pounding quickly down the hall before smiling in relief as he entered the kitchen and raised his gun at the enflamed figure.

"No, don't! Don't!" Sam cried frantically at Dean.

"Sam?!" Fallon questioned.

"What, why?!" Dean asked pausing.

"Because I know who it is," Sam answered, amazement in his voice. "I can see her now." Fallon turned back to the fiery figure and blinked in surprise when the flames disappeared to reveal a slim, blonde woman. She glanced back at the boys and noticed the look of shock on both of their faces.

"Mom?" Dean asked brokenly. Fallon felt her heart twist at the reunion between Mary Winchester and her sons.

"Dean," Mary said stepping closer to him before looking at Sam. "Sam." Sam smiled at her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked confused, but she didn't answer him. Fallon watched as Mary walked away from both boys then and into the center of the room, before glancing over at Fallon.

"Fallon, you watch after my boys," Mary ordered gently. Fallon's stared at the other ghost, knowing now that Mary had been the one to save her from the poltergeist, and could only nod her head to let her know her boys were safe with her. Mary smiled briefly before looking up at the ceiling with determination clear in her face. "You get out of my house, and let go of my son and his friend." Fallon and the boys both watched as Mary was once again engulfed in flames that reached up to the ceiling before disappearing altogether. Sam dropped from the wall and Fallon felt the energy pinning her dissipate. Sam got up and walked over to a stunned Dean.

"Now it's over," Sam said. Dean didn't respond. He just kept staring at the spot Mary had just been standing on.

"Sam?" Fallon called and Sam looked over at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Are you?"

Fallon laughed. "Not really," she said climbing unsteadily to her feet. Sam hurried over to her and helped her to her feet.

"You used a lot of power tonight," Sam said as she leaned against him. "You did a good job, Fallon."

"Not good enough," Fallon replied. "If I had just been able to hold it up a little longer you wouldn't have been attacked."

"Stop," Dean said stepping towards her. "It's probably thanks to you that we were able to get Jenny and her kids out alive. So don't you feel bad about not being able to keep it up any longer. Now, it's almost morning. We need to call Missouri. I want her to check the house to make sure that there's nothing paranormal left here."

"Yeah, I'll call her," Sam said. "You and Fallon get out of here." Fallon and Dean both left Sam in the kitchen then and stepped out onto the porch.

"Is Sam okay? What's going on?" Jenny cried rushing up to them.

"He's fine," Dean answered. "He's calling Missouri to make sure we got rid of the poltergeist, but I'm positive it's gone this time." Jenny nodded, trying to hold back tears. Fallon felt sorry for her, but was too tired to do anything but slowly make her way down the sidewalk and climb into the backseat of the Impala. She closed her eyes in exhaustion as Dean drove hurriedly back to Missouri's house to pick the woman up. She really was drained. She only listened quietly as Dean explained to Missouri what happened.

"I could have sworn that poltergeist was gone," Missouri murmured. "And your poor friend in the back, why she has hardly any energy left at all."

"She'll be alright," Dean said. "She's tough." Nothing else was said as they parked out in front of Winchester's old house again. Missouri and Dean both got out of the car, but Fallon noticed that Dean did not follow Missouri and Sam back into the house. Concerned, she forced herself to get out of the car and leaned against the car door beside Dean.

"You okay?" she asked staring up at him.

Dean glanced down and smiled wearily at her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he teased lightly. "I'm not the one who used up all my powers."

"I'll be fine," Fallon assured him tiredly.

"So will I," he replied. Fallon just smiled. They both stood in silence until Jenny suddenly walked over to them with a box in hand.

"You can't leave without your pictures," Jenny said.

"Oh yeah," Dean said taking the small box off of the woman. He opened the box and began flipping through the photos.

"You were cute," Fallon said looking at a picture of a little Dean with a baby Sam on his lap.

Dean chuckled as he placed the pictures back in the box. "Thanks for these," Dean said facing Jenny.

"Don't thank me, they're yours," Jenny replied. Dean smiled again before popping open the trunk and putting the box down.

"Sam, you ready?" Dean called. Sam nodded standing up from the porch where he'd been talking to Missouri.

"Don't you boys be strangers," Missouri said walking with Sam back to car.

"We won't," Dean replied sliding into the driver seat.

"See you around," Missouri nodded. Fallon, Dean, and Sam waved as they pulled away and began to drive out of Lawrence. For once, it was a silent ride.

Missouri sighed as she opened the door to her home later that day. Jenny had treated her to breakfast and dropped her off. Walking into her living room she placed her purse down her end table. "That boy…" she sighed. "He has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father I have no idea." She turned to face the man sitting on her couch.

John Winchester glanced up at her, his dark eyes bright with emotion. "Mary's spirit... do you really think she saved the boys?" he asked.

"I do," Missouri answered him and watched as he began to fiddle with the wedding ring. She frowned in annoyance. "John Winchester, I could just slap you! Why won't you go talk with your children?"

"I want to. You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em," he replied. "But I can't. Not yet. Not until I know the truth."

"Sometimes there are things that are more important than the truth," Missouri told him walking past him and straightening some knick-knacks on a shelf.

"Do they really have a ghost traveling with them?" John asked.

Missouri sighed before nodding. "Yes," she replied. "And a powerful one too. Much more powerful than she should be considering she hasn't been a ghost for long. Her name's Fallon. Fallon Romano. And she's very protective of your boys."

"Is she vengeful?" John asked. Missouri paused, and stared out her window.

"She will be."


End file.
